‘Make A Difference’ Projects Worked

The South Cumberland Community Fund (SCCF) is pleased to report that the four winning projects from 2015–16 Make a Difference contest have been completed and plans are under way for a revised project involving all communities across the Plateau on Saturday, March 4, 2017. Details for this event are still being completed, but organizers hope to involve area students, families and community members in a day of service.
Last year’s Make a Difference contest asked students to consider, “If you had $1,000, what would you do to make a difference in your community?” Projects in grades K–four, fifth–eight, and nine–12 receiving the most online votes were awarded $1,000 to carry out their concepts. Winning projects were submitted by Coalmont Elementary School for both a school garden and creating Little Free Libraries, by second-graders at Sewanee Elementary School for a fruit orchard, and by St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School to develop signage for the state parks.
The Coalmont Elementary School garden proved to be a success by producing healthy and strong pumpkin and tomato plants. The garden provided students an opportunity to learn new skills, have a space for sharing of knowledge and enhanced students’ social growth.
“Giving the students an opportunity to display their project plans and share their ideas with the community...was a great learning experience,” said project advisor Stephanie Smith.
Little Free Libraries are being put up at Coalmont, Tracy City, Pelham and Swiss Memorial elementary schools. These libraries serve as a “take a book, leave a book” exchange. The students painted the boxes, as well as learned team-building skills.
The students participated in every part of developing the grant, giving them a better understanding of the process. Above all, the children were glad to be able to give back to their schools. “Helping children in our community have access to books feels good,” said one student participant.
The second-grade class at Sewanee Elementary School used the funds to establish a community orchard. The students spent a day planting the orchard and learning from the University Farm staff about grafting, worms and tree care. The successful orchard inspired the students to work together as a team to give back to their community.
“I did not know a second grader could make such a difference,” said one student participant.  When the orchard blooms into fruition, it will provide fruit to the community.
St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School was awarded a grant to buy materials and create signs for the  the Fiery Gizzard reroute, including publicizing Monteagle Chamber of Commerce’s new map of the area. The Global Local Outreach group of SAS, led by its president, Vanessa Moss, worked with graphic designer, Aaron Welch, as well as the local park rangers. Collaboration between the students, local residents and the state park allowed them to learn beyond the classroom and interact with community members.
“Working with the state parks was a wonderful time. It introduced me to a lot of great folks who do a lot to keep our forests looking beautiful and our people happy,” said the project advisor, Burki Gladstone.
Established in 2012, South Cumberland Community Fund works to improve the quality of life across the Plateau by increasing philanthropy and supporting leadership of the area’s communities, schools and nonprofit organizations. Since its founding, SCCF has reinvested nearly $750,000 in projects that benefit the Plateau.
For more information about the South Cumberland Community Fund, go online to <www.southcumberlandcommunityfund.org> or visit our Facebook page at <https://www.facebook.com/southcumberlandcommunityfund/>.

SCCF Hosts Grant Award Event

Folks at Home of Sewanee is among the 11 area organizations receiving a 2016 grant from South Cumberland Community Fund (SCCF). SCCF will host a ceremony on July 31 to make the awards as well as honor the VISTAs who are completing their service on the Plateau. The event will begin at 4 p.m., Sunday, July 31, at the Big Red Barn in Beersheba Springs. All are welcome at the free event.
The approved grants are:
Animal Alliance South Cumberland (AASC) is an all-volunteer organization that makes available accessible, affordable spaying and neutering for pets across the Plateau. This grant of $3,500 will purchase a tandem axle 7’ x 14’ enclosed cargo trailer. AASC will use this trailer for two purposes: AASC’s main fundraiser each year is a very large yard sale, augmented by smaller flea market sales during the summer. The trailer will be used to store large items and transport them to the sales (rather than keeping them in the garages and barns of volunteers). It will also be used to haul and distribute pallets of donated dog and cat food. AASC uses donated food as an incentive for low-income pet owners to have their pets sterilized and also to help pet owners through difficult times.
Coalmont Public Library offers life-long learning for people of all ages, as well as access to technology and the Internet and is open 20 hours each week. For its 800 card holders and other members of this rural community, it offers a year-round story time for children, participates in the Interlibrary Loan program and provides services such as fax, printing and email access. Individuals seeking employment come to the library to search for open positions, to fill out and follow-up on online applications and to learn about educational opportunities. This $1,000 grant purchases a new desktop computer to replace an obsolete one and provides funds to help purchase supplies for next year’s summer reading program.
Folks at Home is dedicated to assisting older area residents in living a dignified and comfortable lifestyle through coordination of services they need. Through this grant of $3,040, Folks at Home will expand its Boost Your Brain and Memory Program, an evidence-based program designed to help participants learn and practice the most promising strategies for keeping the brain healthy as they age. The goal is to expand the program into Monteagle, Tracy City and Sewanee or Sherwood. Current program facilitators will mentor new volunteer facilitators, with an “each one teach one” approach to continuing the program with community-based facilitators.
Almost a decade ago, Friends of South Cumberland (FSC) started “Every Child in the Park,” a program that takes every fifth-grade class in Grundy County to one of the South Cumberland Parks for an all-day field trip. This year’s grant of $9,856 helps FSC expand this program into the fourth grade by creating an all-day field trip to the Park’s Visitor’s Center, which will provide an introduction to the history, geography, flora and fauna of the area; and will provide enriching activities through the use of nature journaling. In addition to building a sense of community, this grant will connect children to nature, support the preservation of the area’s history and culture and increase attendance at the Visitors Center by making it more widely known to area children and families.
Grundy County High School has an enrollment of about 725 students (grades 9–12) and a very limited annual library budget. This grant of $9,095 will help improve literacy skills and expand the library’s capacity to be a teaching space for the school. This grant will purchase books that will be engaging and interesting to high school students and at the appropriate reading level. It will also purchase a new computer and software for circulation and inventory of books. The grant will also purchase materials to equip the library as a teaching space with advanced audio-visual capabilities for multi-media presentations and web seminars.
Grundy County Historical Society operates the Grundy County Heritage Center, which is a museum, a library and a research center about the South Cumberland Plateau. An all-volunteer operation, it supports and encourages appreciation of and education about the culture and history of this region. In 2015, about 2,400 people visited the Center. Dry, secure space is essential to the preservation of historic photographs and documents. The Historical Society is housed in a location with three separate roof structures, all of which now need repairs. This $10,000 grant, combined with a USDA Rural Development grant and support from individual donors, will pay for repair to damage from previous roof leaks and will help support the re-roofing of the three buildings.
Grundy County Housing Authority provides safe and affordable housing for low-income families in the area. Its 110 units range from efficiencies to four-bedroom units. Of its 219 current residents, 76 are under the age of 18. Grundy County Housing Authority will use this grant to expand its on-site recreational opportunities for families, with a special emphasis on children. Presently there are courts for volleyball and basketball. This $4,500 grant will purchase age-appropriate playground equipment for young children so that they and their families will have ready access to safe outdoor play space.
Grundy County Swiss Historical Society, host of the Swiss Celebration and Festival for 42 years, maintains a farmhouse/museum to educate visitors about the unique history of the Swiss settlement in the Gruetli-Laager area since 1869. The farmhouse and the adjacent pavilion are also used for family reunions, community gatherings and weddings. This grant of $4,500 will replace all the gutters on the farmhouse and will support the creation of a new drainage system to protect the integrity of the historic building.
Grundy County Youth Football is a county-wide program that provides football and cheerleading for children ages 4 through eighth grade. About 130 children participate in the football program and about 60 children are in the cheerleading program. Games are played every Saturday from August through October, all led and coached by volunteers. This program is one of the most formative experiences for young people in Grundy County, advancing life skills such as teamwork, discipline, sportsmanship and the importance of physical fitness. Most of the program’s current helmets are more than a decade old and need to be replaced. This $10,000 grant will purchase 100 new state-of-the-art football helmets to ensure the safest possible program.
Pelham Fire and Rescue provides the Pelham Valley community with primary fire response. Its service area also includes Interstate 24, where they respond to emergency calls, some of which are complex accidents including hazardous materials. Because it is an unincorporated community, Pelham has no mechanism for assessing taxes; most of the funds for the Fire and Rescue program come from an annual Fish Fry and Barbecue. This grant of $9,740 will purchase five new sets of gear (coat, pants and helmet with shield) for firefighters, keeping the program in compliance with federal standards and ensuring the safety of the 12 volunteers who dedicate their time and efforts to saving the lives of others.
Tracy City Softball and Baseball operates an annual program for boys and girls ages 3–12, involving about 100 children each year. In addition to introducing them to the sport, the program helps children learn to work together as a team, to appreciate the benefits of hard work and practice and to gain experience dealing with stressful situations, including losing. This grant of $9,369 supports the development of a community softball/baseball complex on the site of the old high school baseball field. Having reached agreements with the Town of Tracy City, the Grundy County School Board, the Fair Association and the Golf Association, the program can now move forward with surveying the property for future development. The grant also purchases portable aluminum bleachers for use at the current location and that can be moved to the new field when it is completed.
Established in 2012, South Cumberland Community Fund works to improve the quality of life across the Plateau by increasing philanthropy and supporting leadership of the area’s communities, schools and nonprofit organizations. Since its founding, SCCF has reinvested nearly $750,000 in projects that benefit the Plateau.
For more information go online to <southcumberlandcommunityfund.org>; or contact Laura Willis at (931) 636-2901 or by email to <laura@southcumberlandcommunityfund.org>.

Children’s Choir Opens Trails and Trilliums on April 15

Friends of South Cumberland Announce Tribute Award Winner

The Friends of South Cumberland State Park has announced that the South Cumberland Community Fund will be honored with its Tribute Award at the 2016 Trails and Trilliums Festival, April 15–17 at the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly.

For two years, the Childrens’ Choir performance at Trails and Trilliums has been made possible by a grant from the South Cumberland Community Fund (SCCF) through the Paul S. McConnell Music Trust, which was established to encourage and support music on the Plateau.

“The generous support of the South Cumberland Community Fund has brought a treasure to Trails and Trilliums in the form of a gathering of students from across the Plateau participating in the Children’s Choir. The public support of this event has been resounding,” said Mary Priestley, representing the awards committee for Friends of the South Cumberland. “FSC is recognizing the Community Fund for all that they have done and are doing for the quality of life on our Mountain.”

This year’s Tribute Award will be presented at the Children’s Choir Concert and Student Art Exhibition at 5:30 p.m., Friday, April 15, in the Assembly Auditorium. The concert and exhibition are free to the public.

“The South Cumberland Community Fund is honored to receive this award,” said Margaret C. Woods, board chair of SCCF. “It has been a delight to see the Children’s Choir have such a positive impact and bring together so many people on the Mountain.”

The Trails and Trilliums Tribute Award, established in 2009, goes to an organization or person who has contributed to the South Cumberland Plateau or the FSC in a memorable way. Previous winners include: the Land Trust for Tennessee, Park Rangers of the South Cumberland State Park, contributors to “Williams Wildflowers,” Landscape Analysis Lab; Tennessee Naturalist Program Board; University of the South; and Discover Together . 

For the complete schedule for the weekend, more information or registration go to <www.trailsandtrilliums.org>.