From Easter Seals Tennessee:

On February 2, Easter Seals Tennessee, CEO, Susan Armiger, Board Member, Samuel Howard and previous Nashvillian, Aubrey Harwell, Jr. announced the 2010 Nashvillian of the Year recipient, Dr. Robert (Bob) Fisher.

Dr. Fisher, President of Belmont University, will be honored at the 17th annual Nashvillian of the Year Celebration on the evening of April 20th, 2010 at the Hilton Nashville Downtown. Event proceeds benefit Easter Seals Tennessee, an organization dedicated to helping children and adults with disabilities live with greater independence.

For information on attending this year’s Nashvillian of the Year Celebration on April 20th, 2010, contact Tracy Anthony at 292-6640 X 147 with Easter Seals Tennessee. For information about Easter Seals Tennessee, visit our website at www.eastersealstn.com

Today’s Nashville City Paper reports on a volunteer program that will be implemented with the help of the Salute 2009 Team Building Award winner:

A new program aimed to give Metro workers time to volunteer in schools will kick-off Wednesday morning when Mayor Karl Dean rolls up his sleeves to help East Nashville students in art class.

One primary goal of the initiative is to generate hands-on community support for the schools by making it easier for city employees to volunteer in Metro Nashville Public Schools during the workweek.

The mayor will release more details on the new program when he signs an executive order Wednesday at Warner Elementary to create the program.

Representatives of the PENCIL Foundation will help Metro manage the program.

Click here to read further coverage of this initiative.

Alive Hospice is reaching out to Haitians living in the Middle Tennessee area:

Members of Middle Tennessee’s Haitian community don’t have to face loss alone. Counselors with Alive Hospice’s bereavement support program are offering a support group for those who have lost loved ones in Haiti. A group will begin meeting once five or more people have registered.

Additionally, Alive Hospice is available to facilitate “Grief in the Workplace” programs for worship communities and other organizations that have been touched by loss in Haiti.

Anyone who is interested in utilizing these services may contact Alive Grief Support Services at 963-4732 for more information.

Providing grief support services to anyone in the community who has faced a loss is part of the mission of Alive Hospice.

“The loss of a loved one is among the most difficult things a person can face, not least of all when the loss is sudden and compounded by a natural disaster,” said Alive Grief Support Services Director Karen Nash. “As grief counselors, we provide support in a safe environment where people can process their losses, find strength in each other through their common experiences and begin to take the next steps to put their lives back together.”

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, Nashville is home to more than 1,000 people who either migrated to the United States from Haiti or are of Haitian ancestry. Additionally, Middle Tennessee is home to many who provide humanitarian aid and other support to Haiti.

Conexión Américas, United Neighborhood Health Services and Vanderbilt Center for Health Services are in search of additional partners for a South Nashville Community Center designed to service the immigrant community:

As Nashville welcomes more and more immigrants and refugees into our community, coordinated services are needed to address the complex and interlocking challenges facing these new arrivals as well as to help them maximize the opportunities our city affords them.

The South Nashville Community Center seeks strong partners committed to social, economic and civic integration for immigrants and refugees. While South Nashville is home to a large number of immigrants and refugees and is increasingly recognized as our city’s vibrant international district, a diverse population of hard-working Nashvillians has called South Nashville home for many generations. Therefore, this nonprofit collaborative also seeks partners committed to social justice who wish to strengthen their presence in one of Nashville’s most diverse neighborhoods.

Benefits of South Nashville Community Center:

• Nonprofit collaboration and coordination of services
• Located in Nashville’s international corridor
• Convenient access to services for immigrant families and diverse community of South Nashville, on the bus line
• Increased operating efficiency through shared costs (meeting space, training & classrooms, kitchen, restrooms, parking and possibly other back-office collaboration)

Continue reading ‘Nonprofit Collaborative Seeks Partners to Help Anchor South Nashville Community Center’

In CNM’s monthly e-newsletter, NP News, we asked nonprofits to take a look back, and tell us some of their “top moments” of 2009. Middle Tennessee nonprofits stretched budgets, worked longer hours, applied for more grants, all with the looming threat of an economy that was in a free fall. It was quite a year! Here our some of our “top moments” (in no particular order) of 2009. In the comments section, please tell us some of yours!

1. Successful 2009 Conference

Geoffrey Canada, Mayor Karl Dean, and 200 nonprofit leaders came together to learn, network, and be inspired!

2. Salute to Excellence 2009

Nothing is more fun for us than giving away close to $160,000 to local nonprofits in a star studded event that honors the entire nonprofit community.

 3. Introduction of Webinars

CNM launched a new initiative designed to bring our training to the comforts of your own home or office. Look out for more opportunities to learn online in the coming year!

 4. Young Nonprofit Professionals Group: A Pilot Program

What started with an idea, turned into a four-month pilot program, and ended up with 80 people at our kick-off event. Needless to say, we were blown away by the response, and are excited about the first year of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Group in 2010!

From Hands On Nashville:

The Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards recognize individuals and groups who have selflessly given their time and talents to improve the lives of others in Middle Tennessee. Mary Catherine Strobel was a community volunteer known for her compassion and generosity. She helped start numerous charitable efforts in our community and led a life of service work with homeless, impoverished and those less fortunate. These annual awards were created to honor her memory and celebrate her legacy of service.

The luncheon will be held on April 6 at the Franklin Marriott Hotel Cool Springs Conference Center. Tickets for the event are just $35 per person and a table of 10 can be purchased for $350. This luncheon provides an excellent opportunity for you to show appreciation to your volunteers without having to do all the planning.

Now is the time to nominate your volunteers – individuals and/or groups for the distinguished Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards. This year we have updated several of the categories to better represent the commitment and extraordinary service of your volunteers. Also, we are pleased to announce a new category – Corporate Service Project – to recognize volunteer projects developed and/or completed by corporate business groups. Year after year, volunteers say that they feel incredibly honored just to be nominated for these awards.

Visit www.hon.org for more information about the nominating process and to download the 2010 Nomination Instructions and Form.

All nominations are due by February 10.

Awards luncheon is April 6. (Formal invitations will be mailed in March.)

If you have questions, please contact:

Ramsey Raybeck
Corporate Relations and Special Events Manager
Hands On Nashville
615.298.1108 ext. 111
ramsey@hon.org

A great story from today’s Tennessean on a process developed by our local Second Harvest food bank that is both innovative and effective:

Workers at the Nashville food bank don’t just coordinate donations to locals in need; they also manufacture food and prepare it for shipping as boil-in-a-bag or TV-dinner-type meals to other food banks and disaster sites across the country. With the capability to cook 1,900 pounds of food in an hour, they can turn out 40,000 entrees and 80,000 side items each day.

Through food manufacturing, Second Harvest can repurpose difficult-to-use donations into healthy meals. At a soup kitchen, for example, a 55-gallon drum of tomato paste might get shoved into a corner, while a steaming pot of chili will be served.

“We’re basically the only food bank in the country with this process,” said Burleson, who formerly worked with Logan’s Roadhouse. “At the end of the day, I can go home and say I’ve made a change.”

The Center for Nonprofit Management and the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office have released a guidebook for nonprofit board members. From the Nashville City Paper:

“What Every Board Member and Officer Should Know” is a product of coordination among the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, the Department of State and the Center for Nonprofit Management.

It is designed to serve as a reference tool for board members and officers of Tennessee nonprofits. It is available online at the Attorney General’s website at http://tn.gov/attorneygeneral.

“We believe the principles and practices in this guidebook can help board members and officers fulfill their duties and enrich their experiences,” Attorney General Bob Cooper said.

The three entities collaborated to develop the guide because each has a particular role in the nonprofit business operation. The Attorney General has broad oversight and authority over Tennessee’s nonprofit sector, including public benefit hospitals.

The Tennessee Department of State is responsible for processing documents filed under the Nonprofit Corporation Act and administers and enforces the Tennessee Charitable Solicitations Act and Charitable Gaming Implementation Law.

The Center for Nonprofit Management provides a range of services and guidance to nonprofits, including workshops, training and networking with other nonprofit organizations.

A special offer from the Nashville Symphony:

As a thank you to all of Nashville’s non-profit employees and volunteers, the Nashville Symphony is providing a special discount Jan. 21-23. Mention promo code 7121 to receive main floor seats for just $20 on January 21, 22 or 23 (regularly $85). This discount is available by phone at 615.687.6400, online at NashvilleSymphony.org and in person at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center Box Office.

More info on the concert:

Penderecki Comes to Nashville Jan. 21-23

Schermerhorn Symphony Center

Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki has remained one of classical music’s most important and most talked-about figures for the past 50 years. Bold, resonant and deeply personal, his music has embraced an array of styles, from the expressive Romanticism of Richard Strauss to the bracing, energetic sounds of postwar modernism. He makes a rare visit to Nashville to conduct a specially chosen program that includes his Concerto for Piano “Resurrection,” a gripping, moving response to the events of 9/11. With a remarkable scope that recalls the symphonies of Mahler, but rendered in Penderecki’s singular voice, the work will feature the gifted pianist Barry Douglas. Penderecki will also lead the orchestra in Shostakovich’s alternately contemplative and lively Symphony No. 6.

Click here to learn more and watch a video preview for the concert.

Mayor Karl Dean is one of seventeen Mayors that founded the Cities of Service Coalition. The mission of the organization that now boasts 80 cities as members,  is to find ways to harness the power of volunteers to solve local challenges. Yesterday, it was announced that Nashville was one of only ten cities selected for a leadership grant from the Rockefeller Foundation:

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, founding members of the Cities of Service coalition, today joined Rockefeller Foundation President Dr. Judith Rodin to announce the winners of the first-ever Cities of Service Leadership Grants.

Ten cities were selected to receive $200,000 two-year grants, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, to hire a Chief Service Officer – a senior city official dedicated to developing and implementing a citywide plan to increase volunteerism and target volunteers to address their city’s greatest needs.

Due to the extraordinary response from cities to the first request for proposals – 50 cities applied to receive one of the ten grants – the mayors and Dr. Rodin announced that there will be a second competition in the coming months to award similar grants to an additional ten cities.

The cities selected to receive leadership grants are Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Los Angeles, CA; Nashville-Davidson, TN; Newark, NJ; Omaha, NE; Philadelphia, PA; Sacramento, CA; Savannah, GA; Seattle, WA. Each of these cities displayed a strong commitment to service and outlined thoughtful, thorough and creative approaches to expanding local opportunities for volunteers to make an impact.

“I can think of no better way to celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and this national day of service than to invest in the capacity of cities to mobilize their citizens in innovative ways to solve our common problems,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “As we work to help our neighbors and communities through the greatest financial crisis we’ve seen in a long time, we believe citizen service is needed now more than ever. These grants, funded generously by the Rockefeller Foundation, will help us develop new strategies to tap volunteers as a serious strategy to solve local challenges.”