CNM has been working with area nonprofits to help them implement the necessary strategies to get through the recession. We are thrilled that our partner, GivingMatters.com has created a survey to assess how this community is doing at facing these challenges. We ask that Middle TN nonprofits take the time to complete it so we can better assess the needs of the community. Here is additional info:

As GivingMatters seeks to assist donors with their charitable investments, it is important for them to know how the nonprofit sector is fairing. Please participate in our survey about the effect of the economic recession on your organization and its impact on the people you serve. We ask you to be as open, honest and realistic as you possibly can be. All the responses we receive will remain anonymous and reported only in the aggregate. We believe your information will be immensely useful in helping the donors know what is going on in our sector. Click here to complete the survey.

Thank you for your time and consideration,
Amy McDaniel, MSW
Director GivingMatters.com

 

From today’s Davidson AM:

Clothes4Soles could be launched in the next 12 months, according to initial business plans.

The nonprofit will continue to donate and distribute shoes. It has set a goal of distributing 30 million pairs of shoes in the next five years – five times more than what has already gone out. Numerous celebrities have associated their names and helped with fundraising events for Soles4Souls.

Clothes4Soles would operate as a separate brand, distributing clothing that is donated in similar fashion to how shoes are given. Details still are being worked out, Elsey said.

 Conexión Americas has launched a special edition of its Cafe Rumba Roast organic, fair trade coffee.

The Special Edition Cafe Rumba Roast features original art on the package from renowned artist J. A. Yances, based on Yances’ oil painting “Tucán Colores de la Selva” (Toucan Colors of the Jungle).

“The Special Edition of Cafe Rumba Roast is a one-of-a-kind present for the coffee connoisseurs or the community-minded on your gift list,” said Renata Soto, executive director of Conexión Americas. “Your friends will love the coffee, and you’ll support Conexión Americas, a local nonprofit. Your gift to our community will last far beyond the holidays.”

Yances has donated the painting, valued at $8,000, to Conexión Americas. Art-lovers will have a chance to own the painting with a $10 donation to the nonprofit. Tickets are limited to 2,000 and are available until December 15, 2009.

Tickets and the Special Edition of Cafe Rumba Roast can be purchased online (www.conexionamericas.org) by phone at 615-320-5152 or at Conexión Americas’ office at 800 18th Avenue South. The coffee is also available at Ten Thousand Villages, 3900 Hillsboro Road in Green Hills.

Proceeds from ticket and coffee sales support Conexión Americas’ mission to help local Latino families; these entrepreneurial initiatives reduce the nonprofit’s dependence on donations.

The Community Foundation of Middle TN is partnering with Vanderbilt Athletics for coat drive:

Coats for the Counties, a program that collects and delivers winter apparel to needy children in rural counties surrounding Metropolitan Nashville, will occur prior to the Vanderbilt-Kentucky football game at Vanderbilt Stadium November 14, 2009.

This marks the third year that The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and Vanderbilt Athletics have teamed up for this worthy project. Fans attending the football game are encouraged to bring new and gently used winter coats to donate at convenient drop-off areas at each of Vanderbilt Stadium’s main gates. Children’s coats are most needed, but all sizes will be collected during Coats for the Counties.

Coats for the Counties was conceived by LaRawn Scaife Rhea, who along with her husband, Richard, realized from a friendship with a public school nurse, that children in rural areas were coming to school without coats, caps or gloves in cold weather and they had few, if any, resources to obtain help.

“The teachers and school nurses had been trying to buy these children coats but they simply couldn’t meet the needs without some help,” Scaife says. “Through this project we have been able to help meet the annual demand for coats in many of the counties surrounding Nashville that we know need assistance.”

Scaife is quick to credit the teamwork of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Vanderbilt Athletics and her husband Richard, who donates his time and resources to store and ultimately help deliver the coats around the countryside.

“Our fans have really gotten behind this worthy project,” says Rod Williamson, Director of Vanderbilt Athletics External Relations. “It is nice to have confidence that these donations are going directly to those that need them the most.”

Scaife notes with the tight economy and higher unemployment rates that the need this winter is probably even greater than in recent years.

Kickoff time for the Commodores-Wildcat football game on November 14 is 11:21 a.m. People wishing to donate a coat but unable to attend the game can drop it off at the McGugin Center, just across the street from Vanderbilt Stadium, the week of the game.

For more information: http://cfmt.org/events/

Project for Neighborhood Aftercare is seeking to sublease its furnished office space in Berry Hill. The prime location is at 2807 Bransford Avenue (Suite C), just blocks away from the school board. The space includes three offices (400 SF, 285 SF, and 65 SF) and one bathroom. Total square footage including hallway and reception area is approximately 1,000. Included along with the space are three desks and chairs, a conference table with chairs, two storage cabinets, a small refrigerator and microwave. $1,100/month including water. (Tenant is responsible for electric costs.) Deposit of $1,100 is required, and a 6 or 12 month lease is desired. Call Sandy at 385.7067 x 2 or 238.4121 for more details. 

First TN is partnering with the local Red Cross to offer CPR training at a discount:

In an innovative partnership with the American Red Cross, First Tennessee will host adult CPR certification classes in its Middle Tennessee financial centers during the next year.

The year-long series of training sessions will certify individuals to correctly administer CPR. First Tennessee is subsidizing the cost of the classes to offer the course at a reduced price of $15 per person, said Paula Mansfield, vice president and work place banking manager for First Tennessee.  Class information is as follows:
Saturday, Nov. 14
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
First Tennessee Indian Lake Financial Center
216 Indian Lake Blvd.
Hendersonville, Tenn.
Registration deadline is Thursday, Nov. 12

Those interested can pre-register at their nearest First Tennessee financial center. To find the center closest to you, please visit www.firsttennessee.com

“Community involvement is a priority for First Tennessee. The CPR classes focus on health care and education, two of our four cornerstones of giving,” said Mansfield, one of six First Tennessee employees certified to train others in CPR.

From today’s Nashville City Paper:

Can’t make it to the prestigious Sundance Film Festival this year? Don’t worry-Sundance is coming to you.

In a coup for Music City, the Park City, Utah-based festival announced Wednesday that Nashville will be one of eight cities across America participating in a new program called Sundance Film Festival USA. Essentially, the program will turn the eight cities into satellite hosts for the 2010 festival when it gets underway Jan. 21-31.

On Jan. 28, participating theaters will get a special screening of a film (with its filmmaker in attendance) flown straight from Sundance while the festival there is underway. The Belcourt Theatre, the city’s last operating historic cinema, will be the Nashville venue.

“We feel incredibly honored,” says Stephanie Silverman, Belcourt’s managing director. “It says that Nashville’s a darn good film town, and that word is getting out about our audiences and the filmmakers who are working here.

“It’s a testament that we’re able to do the kind of programming that Sundance finds important, and that Nashville will support it.”

Even more impressive, according to Toby Leonard, who handles film programming for the Hillsboro Village cinema, is the company Nashville’s keeping on the list. Other participating cities include San Francisco and Los Angeles, while The Belcourt stands alongside nationally recognized arthouses such as Chicago’s Music Box Theatre and Brooklyn’s BAM.

The Tennessean has the story on Willie McDonald, the “Mayor” of Donelson:

Live, work, volunteer, provide leadership and have fun doing it all has been what Willie McDonald has done as a Donelson resident since 1955.

 And McDonald, 77, is still going full steam at all of them. He was recently honored as a recipient of the Sage Award, given by the Council on Aging of Greater Nashville to Middle Tennessee residents, ages 55-over, for contributions to the community.

“Willie McDonald has earned the honorary title of Mayor of Donelson through public service to the community,” said Floyd Schechter, owner of SmartSpace and himself active in many aspects of Donelson-Hermitage.

McDonald works 40-plus hours a week for CedarStone Bank in Donelson.
He’s on more boards and committees than you can count, including recently being named by Mayor Karl Dean to serve on the nine-member Nashville Convention Center Authority designed to oversee its development.

McDonald is no big deal, either. Every year it’s his job when volunteering at the FiftyForward Donelson Station Labor Day Bar-B-Que to fill the barbecue sauce cups.
“He’s just one of those people that helps make this community extra special,” said Jane Schnelle, executive director of FiftyForward Donelson Station.