Literacy grants for 2022 are now open for projects in Anderson and Roane counties. The grants are made possible by the annual Lunch for Literacy in Oak Ridge, a joint effort by Altrusa of Oak Ridge and the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club.
Application packages must be received by January 15. If you would like an application or have questions, send an email to [email protected] or call Dean Cheatham at (760) 443-4379.
The application process opens March 1 for the 2020 Community Action Grants from the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club.
The Community Action grants are open to nonprofit groups to help with special projects or initiatives of their organizations, a press release said.
In 2019, the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club awarded a combined total of $20,000 in Community Action Grants to 13 recipient organizations, the press release said. [Read more…]
A creative writing director at the University of Tennessee will speak at Lunch 4 Literacy in Oak Ridge in March.
The popular annual event is co-sponsored by the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and the Altrusa International Club of Oak Ridge. It will be held at Oak Ridge High School at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 24.
This year, the award-winning speaker is Margaret Lazarus Dean, an associate professor and director of creative writing in the Department of English at the University of Tennessee. [Read more…]
A Family Drug Treatment Court, the first of its kind in Anderson County, launched this week, and there will be a ribbon-cutting next week, a press release said.
The Anderson County Family Drug Treatment Court will be called R2: The Recovery and Resilience Program, the press release said.
R2 is a program for juvenile offenders who have substance misuse issues and have not been successful in maintaining drug abstinence. The program is a minimum of nine months and will incorporate treatment, family therapy, and group therapy paired with accountability and goal setting, the press release said.
“By addressing barriers in the home, we will enable adolescents in Anderson County to break free from the grip of generational drug abuse, setting them up to be successful contributors to our society,†said Anderson County Juvenile Court Judge Brian Hunt.
The press release said the program has been a priority for a large number of stakeholders in the community for many years. [Read more…]
The three Oak Ridge Rotary Clubs present a check for $10,000 for the Peace Pavilion that will house the International Friendship Bell, at the kickoff for the fundraising campaign last year. From left, they are last year’s Rotary Club presidents, Devrin Kuipers, Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary Club; Jennifer Campbell, Rotary Club of Oak Ridge; and Emily Jernigan, Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club. Accepting the check are Pat Postma and Alan Tatum, co-chairs of the International Friendship Bell Citizens Advisory Committee. (Photo by D. Ray Smith)
When local organizations step up to support local initiatives, communities experience success.
“Communities that organize and work with a goal in mind benefit and prosper far more than those that don’t,†said Pat Postma, co-chair of a group leading a fund drive for a new Peace Pavilion for the Oak Ridge International Friendship Bell.
Postma is pleased that many local organizations have contributed to the Friendship Bell drive, seeing it as a sign of strong community support when organizations that raise funds for their own causes contribute to other community initiatives, as well. They join contractors, businesses, local governments, and individuals that are supporting the effort, a press release said.
Among the first organization to contribute to the drive was the Girl Scouts Oak Ridge Service Unit, which observes the United Nations International Day of Peace annually at the Friendship Bell and has established friendships with Girl Scouts from Oak Ridge’s sister city in Japan, the press release said.
“The Girl Scouts of Oak Ridge made a donation of $1,000 when we had a visit from our sister Girl Scout Troop 37 in Naka, Japan, in 2014,†said Jerry Luckmann, community service coordinator for the Oak Ridge Service Unit, which covers about 30 troops in the Oak Ridge area. [Read more…]
Thomas Zacharia (Photo courtesy D. Ray Smith)
Submitted
The Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club welcomed Thomas Zacharia, director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to its August 9 breakfast meeting. Zacharia became director of ORNL on July 1, 2017, after a long and successful career with ORNL beginning in 1987 as a postdoctoral researcher and culminating in his recent appointment as director.
His professional career at ORNL spans many fields with a special focus in materials research and computational sciences. In his comments to the club, he outlined his long-term expectations for ORNL and its critical role in supporting U.S. Department of Energy missions to advance science and technology in such areas as high-performance computing, advanced materials, nuclear power, and national security.
In addition, Thomas stated he expects ORNL will continue to expand its role in transferring ORNL technologies to industry in the local area and across the nation. ORNL scientific discoveries are expected to continue to help make our economy more competitive in world markets. [Read more…]
Flatwater Festival logo (Created by Jim Dodson)
Bands, beer, boats, and bounce houses. A cornhole tournament. Wine, water, and soda pop.
Teams that build, decorate, and paddle boats while you watch and listen to live music. Barbeque, hamburgers, hot dogs, and ice cream.
Does that sound like a party? It’s the inaugural Flatwater Festival fundraiser on Friday, June 2.
The Flatwater Festival, a fundraiser for community projects supported by the three Rotary clubs of Oak Ridge, will be held from 5 to 11 p.m., Friday, June 2, on the peninsula of Melton Lake Park. Admission to the festival is free, and $5 per person will be charged for unlimited time at the bounce house and obstacle course.
A portion of the proceeds from the festival will go to Emory Valley Center in memory of Dr. Gene Caldwell, a pediatrician, state lawmaker, EVC fundraiser, and Rotarian. The rest will support the diverse community service projects of the Rotary clubs. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge Rotary Clubs announced on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, a $10,000 donation to the project to rebuild the pavilion for the International Friendship Bell and relocate it at Alvin K. Bissell Park. From left are Devrin Kuipers, president of Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary Club; Jennifer Campbell, president of Oak Ridge Rotary Club; Emily Jernigan, president of Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club; and Pat Postma and Alan Tatum, co-chairs of the International Friendship Bell Citizens Advisory Committee. (Photo by D. Ray Smith)
Oak Ridge Rotary Clubs announced Thursday that they are donating $10,000 to the project to build a new Peace Pavilion to house the International Friendship Bell at a new location in Oak Ridge’s Alvin K. Bissell Park.
The donation was announced by Devrin Kuipers, president of Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary Club; Jennifer Campbell, president of Oak Ridge Rotary Club; and Emily Jernigan, president of Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club. It was accepted by Pat Postma and Alan Tatum, co-chairs of the International Friendship Bell Citizens Advisory Committee.
The check presentation was the start of a public campaign to raise $750,000 for the project. A total of $416,000, or more than half the money, has either already been raised or pledged.
Also Thursday, UT-Battelle announced a $150,000 donation to the project. [Read more…]
New Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club President Tony Lester, left, accepts the president’s gavel from outgoing President Kelly Callison. (Photo by ORBRC)
The Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club president for the year 2015-2016 is Tony Lester, a press release said.
Lester has been a Rotarian since 1998 and has previously served as Foundation chair for ORBRC.
Having a close family member who has polio inspired Tony to become more involved in Rotary’s worldwide campaign to eradicate the disease.
He has also served on the boards of the Anderson County United Way, WDVX, and the Jubilee Community Arts. [Read more…]
A low-cost, big-impact opportunity to help people who have disabilities
The Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club is sponsoring a computer drive for the East Tennessee Technology Access Center from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 2. The computer drive will be in the parking lot of TNBank on the corner of Illinois Avenue and Rutgers Avenue.
ETTAC will accept working computers that are XP or newer, both desktop or laptop, Macs, iPads, iPods, monitors, and accessories. You can be assured that ETTAC wipes them clean of all your personal information and then gives them or loans them to people with disabilities who cannot afford to purchase a computer.
“Please don’t remove the hard drives,” a press release said.
Currently, ETTAC has a waiting list of 45 people who want a computer. [Read more…]
To the Editor:
Each year in March a special group of generous company sponsors pool their resources and, along with individuals from our community, support the annual literacy program of the Altrusa International Club of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club. The Lunch 4 Literacy event raises between $15,000 and $20,000 routinely, which allows our community to support exceptional projects that promote literacy and ensure attention is given to the literacy needs that, without the generosity of our sponsors and individual contributors, could go unmet.
The lack of literacy skills is a serious problem within our communities. The reality is that often simple but effective programs can have a profound impact on individuals that enable them to realize their full potential in life. Without these very effective efforts made possible by grants from Lunch 4 Literacy, people in our communities, limited by a lack of basic skills, continue to fail in areas many of us take for granted. Until you have personally encountered illiteracy and its awful adverse impact, it is hard to fully appreciate the value of simply reading and understanding what is read. Through the continuing supportive efforts of our sponsoring companies we are making a difference in our communities! [Read more…]
Pictured from left to right front row are Ann Mostoller (Altrusa), Lisa Buckner, Kay Hall, Alana Hunsaker, Rhoni Basden,Gwen Harrell and Beck Hook. In the second row are Christina Young (ORBRC), Judy Trimble (Altrusa), Ginger Adams, Sheila Michaels, Terry Peck, Jill McMaster, Trudy Wideman, Liz Herdses, and Austin Lance (ORBRC). (Submitted photo)
The Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and Altrusa International of Oak Ridge recently presented grant awards from the Literacy 4 Lunch Grant Award Program.
Lack of literacy skills continues to be a serious problem in the lives of many of our East Tennessee neighbors and for many throughout the world, a press release said.
“Non-readers and below-grade readers cannot realize their full potential in life, which in turn adversely affects our local and national economies and society in general,” the release said.
To address these needs, the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and Altrusa International of Oak Ridge co-sponsor an annual fundraiser, Lunch 4 Literacy. Proceeds from the March 2014 event that featured Denise Kiernan, author of “The Girls of the Atomic City,†provide the financial basis for these grants. [Read more…]
