A grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund has been awarded to Oak Ridge Schools to provide additional opportunities for at-risk students to engage in reading instruction. (Photo by Y-12)
$125,000 invested in local nonprofits across East Tennessee
Twenty-nine nonprofits from across East Tennessee have received a total of $125,000 in grants from the Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, Y-12 Community Investment Fund. The recipients were announced this month at a reception at the New Hope Center at Y-12 National Security Complex.
The CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund is managed by the East Tennessee Foundation, and it was created in 2014 by CNS. CNS manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, where a similar fund is managed by the Amarillo Area Foundation, a press release said.
At Y-12, a committee made up of CNS employees reviewed dozens of grant proposals, conducted staff interviews, and made site visits before recommending funding based on the committee’s four focus areas:  education, senior citizens, veterans, and youth.
This year, the donor-advised fund awarded 29 grants to organizations in 12 East Tennessee counties. The counties included Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Hamblen, Knox, Loudon, McMinn, Monroe, Roane, Scott, and Sevier counties.
Y-12 Site Manager Bill Tindal said he was proud of the committee’s work.
“I want to congratulate our committee on making some tough choices during this process,†Tindal said. “We received more than 100 proposals—all of them good ones. It was up to the committee to select the ones where our grant money would make the greatest difference in our community.â€
Grants from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund have been awarded to the following organizations:
| Organization | Project summary |
| Anderson County Career and Technical Center | Implement Fischertechnik equipment to learn STEM skills in System Control Technology |
| Blount County Children’s Advocacy Center | Provide ongoing support of forensic interviewing program |
| Boys & Girls Club of Monroe County | Deliver interactive reading classes during after-school program |
| Boys & Girls Club of the Smoky Mountains | Support career and technical education programs |
| Briceville Elementary School | Acquire 250 books and eBooks to prepare beginning readers |
| Campbell County Children’s Center | Supply funding for the Victim Support Advocate program |
| Court Appointed Special Advocates of East Tennessee | Provide continued support to recruit, train, and support volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in Knox County |
| CASA of Tennessee Heartland | Supply funds for the Fostering Futures Program provides mentors to empower youth who are at risk of aging out of foster care to live independently of the system |
| CONTACT Care Line | Launch telephone reassurance program supporting homebound, at-risk seniors, who live alone with little or no caregiver support |
| East Tennessee Human Resource Agency | Provide meals to seniors in the counties served through ETHRA’s Home Delivered and Congregate Nutrition Program |
| Ecumenical Storehouse | Supply basic household items to people in poverty or crisis |
| Family Promise of Blount County | Provide intensive case-management-based educational training sessions for families who have experienced homelessness and have moved into permanent housing |
| Lincoln Memorial University | Sustain TheCore program for high-school students in Claiborne and Union counties who are identified as underserved and high risk and would be first-generation college students |
| Ministerial Association Temporary Shelter (MATS) | Support this program combats homelessness in East Tennessee by providing life-altering education and training for men, women, and children to restructure their lives |
| Men of Tomorrow Foundation | Purchase kits to support a STEM project for minority and disadvantaged students participating in the MOT Program. MOT, in collaboration with Oak Ridge School System, will host Forensics Saturdays |
| Michael Dunn Center | Support early Intervention services for children from birth through two years identified as having a developmental delay in the counties of Anderson, Roane, Knox, Morgan, Campbell, Scott, Union, and Claiborne |
| Mission of Hope | Provide clothing bags containing all-new items, including underwear, socks, coat, gloves, hat, jeans, shirt, and shoes, to the neediest students in Tennessee and Kentucky schools |
| Norris Community Library | Support the Summer Reading Program |
| Oak Ridge High School | Sustain the Career Pathways community program to provide part-time jobs for students at Oak Ridge High School who need additional support to graduate and become college- and career-ready |
| Oak Ridge Schools | Provide additional opportunities for at-risk students to engage in reading instruction |
| Our Daily Bread of Tennessee | Support Taking Root Tennessee, which aims to inspire healthy food choices in young children by providing daily garden access and activities to child-care settings |
| Quilts of Valor Foundation | Provide funding to support creation of handcrafted quilts for service members and veterans who have been touched by war |
| Ridin’ High, Inc. | Support the Therapeutic Horse Program that works with at-risk boys who reside at the Helen Ross McNabb Center in Morristown |
| Roane County Anti-Drug Coalition | Provide funds for the Over-The-Counter Medication Safety Program, which uses a team approach to substance-abuse prevention |
| Roane State Community College Foundation | Support students from Anderson County, Clinton, Oak Ridge, and Campbell County high schools as they earn Siemens Level One Mechatronics Systems Assistant Certification to prepare for good jobs directly out of high school and encourages them to continue post-secondary education |
| Smoky Mountain Service Dogs | Support acquisition and training of mobility-assistance service dogs for disabled American Veterans at no cost |
| Schools Together Allowing No Drugs (STAND) | Deliver leadership training for Youth Service Learning Initiative in Scott County |
| The Arc Anderson County | Provide an After School/Summer Program for young people with intellectual/developmental disabilities |
| Volunteer Ministry Center | Provide comprehensive dental services free of charge to individuals experiencing homelessness and persons with no or very low income in Knox County |
East Tennessee Foundation was established in 1986 and serves 25 East Tennessee Counties. For more information, please contact Jan Elston, vice president for competitive grant programs for East Tennessee Foundation, at (865) 524-1223, or via email at [email protected], or contact Jason Bohne, CNS director of communications and public affairs, at (865) 241-1400 or via email at [email protected].
A grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund has been awarded to The Arc Anderson County to provide an After School/Summer Program for young people with intellectual/developmental disabilities. (Photo by Y-12)
A grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund has been awarded to Norris Community Library to support the Summer Reading Program. (Photo by Y-12)
A grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund has been awarded to Men of Tomorrow Foundation to purchase kits to support a STEM project for minority and disadvantaged students participating in the MOT Program. MOT, in collaboration with Oak Ridge School System, will host Forensics Saturdays. (Photo by Y-12)
A grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund has been awarded to Ecumenical Storehouse to supply basic household items to people in poverty or crisis. (Photo by Y-12)
A grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund has been awarded to CONTACT Care Line to launch telephone reassurance program supporting homebound, at-risk seniors, who live alone with little or no caregiver support. (Photo by Y-12)
A grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund has been awarded to CASA of Tennessee Heartland to supply funds for the Fostering Futures Program that provides mentors to empower youth who are at risk of aging out of foster care to live independently of the system. (Photo by Y-12)
A grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund has been awarded to Briceville Elementary School to acquire 250 books and eBooks to prepare beginning readers. (Photo by Y-12)
A grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund has been awarded to Anderson County Career and Technical Center to implement Fischertechnik equipment to learn STEM skills in System Control Technology. (Photo by Y-12)
A grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund has been awarded to Oak Ridge High School to sustain the Career Pathways community program to provide part-time jobs for students at ORHS who need additional support to graduate and become college- and career-ready. (Photo by Y-12)
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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