More than a dozen Limestone County outreach organizations can strengthen their offerings to area students, seniors, patients, and other beneficiaries thanks to the latest round of local funding through the TVA Community Care program. 

Training students to become line workers, providing hygiene items for students, and ensuring patients receive the medication they need are just some of the 16 separate initiatives that received funding from TVA and Athens Utilities last week as the program announced its newest list of recipients.

TVA began the Community Care Fund in April of 2020, and has since followed an annual schedule of allocating portions of the fund within the community it serves. Locally, the power company matches TVA’s award amount with its own contribution. 

Last week, representatives from TVA and the Electric Department of Athens Utilities distributed $46,000 to 16 area nonprofits. Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks and City Council President James Lucas also participated in the presentation of checks at city hall.

Local initiatives funded through the program offered projects that met one or more of TVA’s award criteria, or “Giving Pillars” Those include:

• Education
• Workforce Development and Training
• Environment and Community Stewardship
• Disaster Relief and Emergency Response
• Health, Hunger and Housing

Area organizations who received funding include:

• Learn to Read — $2,400 to improve reading and math skills for adults through its English as a Second Language program.
• Full Tummy — $2,500 to refill hygiene tubs the organization provides at each school so students can use hygiene items as needed.
• The Foundation – Limestone County — $2,000 to provide two-hour workshop on weather awareness and emergency preparedness at the senior centers, and provide NOAA radios with flashlights.
• Family Resource Center — $2,000 to expand its Dolly Parton Imagination Library program for children in Limestone County ages birth to five years.
• United Way — $2,000 to provide ACT prep classes for high school students, which includes a prep book and instruction from a state-certified teacher.
• Camp Hope (Hospice of Limestone County) — $2,250 to fund supplies, marketing and shirts for this bereavement camps that teaches children ages 5-15 how to deal with grief and their emotions.
• Athens Arts League — $2,450 to fund educational programs for children and adults, such as the drumming circle at Boys and Girls Club, art camps, author readings and other art and music activities.
• Athens-Limestone County Community Association — $2,600 to help fund a two-mile walking trail with benches, educational spots and greenspace for educational courses about heart health and diabetes. 
• Athens-Limestone Hospital Foundation — $2,800 to provide prescribed medications and supplies to discharged patients who are underinsured/uninsured.
• Athens Fire and Rescue Auxiliary — $4,000 to assist the department with its Shop with a Firefighter program that partners firefighters and other adults with children whose families need help at Christmas. Children learn about budgeting while shopping and the difference between wants and needs since they can spend half on toys/games and half on necessities. 
• MTM Educational Enrichment — $2,000 to purchase laptops, printers or software for students who receive scholarships based on counselor recommendations and essays they have written about overcoming obstacles to continue their education.
• Council on Aging — $2,800 to fund Lunch with Friends program at the Athens Activity Center, which provides healthy meals and socialization for senior citizens.
• Calhoun Community College Foundation — $9,180 to provide tuition for two Limestone County students to complete the Calhoun Lineworker Training Program.
• Athens City Schools Foundation — $2,500 to provide teacher grants within the Athens City Schools system for projects related to STEM, art and other subjects.
• Boys and Girls Club of Athens — $2,800 for its STEM Career Pathways program that provides hands-on STEM labs, field trips and career fairs for students.
• Limestone County Churches Involved — $1,720 to support its food/rent/utility support for families in crisis.

In a letter to each recipient, TVA Senior Vice President of Customer and Community Relations Dan Pratt noted the TVA Community Care program fund “is intended to help sustain and improve the quality of life in the Valley,” and continues to “amplify vital work being done by non-profit organizations like yours to directly impact communities in the TVA service region.” 

“Besides just selling power to Athens Utilities, TVA also makes investments within Limestone County,” said Electric Department Manager Hunter Allen. “By reinvesting in our local communities, Athens Utilities and TVA work to improve the quality of life for residents of Limestone County and the Tennessee Valley region.”

Since its creation, the TVA Community Care program has boosted local nonprofits with funding to meet a variety of needs in the community, said Marks.

“Athens and Limestone County are blessed with numerous non-profits that strive to enhance the quality of life for our citizens,” he said. “On behalf of the City of Athens, I commend TVA for initiating this program and our Electric Department for seeing the value of it. Volunteers comprise most of these organizations, and they work each day to better our community. This is a way to reinforce their efforts.”

Council President James Lucas also thanked all the award recipients for the work they do in the community, as well as TVA and the Electric Department for providing funding to support the nonprofits’ missions.