ATHENS-On Tuesday, June 25 TVA and Athens Utilities continued empowering local nonprofits by providing them
with funds to meet needs in Athens and Limestone County.
The projects receiving funds today touch various areas of the community from providing prescribed medication
to the uninsured or underinsured to providing laptops for students entering college to hosting free community
events. The projects also address literacy, hunger, access to the arts and providing students with sensory
issues a place to take a break.
This is the fourth round of TVA Cares funding. The first occurred in 2020 when TVA partnered with local power
companies like Athens Utilities to provide funds to support local initiatives that addressed hardships created by
the COVID-19 pandemic. The TVA Cares program has continued as a means to provide ongoing support.
For this round, TVA allocated $33,000 and asked Athens Utilities to match it, which the Electric Department did
from its marketing budget. TVA required recipients to have nonprofit status and a project that meets one or more
of TVA’s core priorities.
TVA’s core priorities are:
Education
Workforce development/training
Arts & culture
Diversity and inclusion
Community enrichment
Disaster relief & emergency response
Health, hunger & housing
Innovation & technology
Mark Brown, TVA’s Community Relations Manager for the South Region – Alabama, Mayor Ronnie Marks,
Athens Electric Department Manager Blair Davis and Limestone County Commission Chairman Collin Daly
presented the checks to recipients.
“The Electric Department is experiencing the highest customer growth I’ve seen in my career with Utilities,” said
Davis, adding the growth rate is 6 percent. “That means we have a growing community with more needs, and I
appreciate TVA, Mayor Marks and our City Council for supporting our efforts to help these nonprofits.”
Marks added that Athens is the fastest growing city in the state, and Limestone County is the fastest growing
county.
“Growth brings us more opportunities, and it also brings us challenges that our nonprofits dedicate their efforts
to addressing,” Marks said. “The TVA Cares program not only provides financial support, it also highlights the
good works that go on in our community every day.”
Here is a list of the recipients and a summary of their projects:
Athens Arts League
$5,000
Will fund three League projects: art supplies for art classes conducted at Blue Springs Elementary, including
take-home art projects; an instructor for Tubano Thunder, a drumming circle program through the Boys & Girls Club; and Mardi Gras, a free community event that includes art for kids, live music, parade and food drive for the
LCCI food bank.
Athens City Schools Foundation
$5,000
Will fund the Foundation’s Teacher Grant Program by providing classroom funds for special hands-on learning
projects related to STEM, arts, health, sensory rooms for students with special needs, reading and teamwork.
Athens Fire & Rescue Auxiliary
$7,000
Will fund Shop with a Firefighter where school counselors recommend students whose families need assistance
at Christmas; students learn how to shop on a budget with a firefighter/community leader; spend $100 on toys,
$100 on necessities; program helped 62 kids last year; this will fund 50.
Athens-Limestone Community Association
$3,500
Will support year-long programs at the historic Trinity-Fort Henderson site that tells the story of slave to solider
to student and other community programs; includes UBORA Black Excellence Music & Cultural Arts Festival,
ACT prep for 7-12 grade and summer youth activities.
Athens-Limestone Family Resource Center
$2,000
Will promote youth literacy by helping fund FRC’s partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to provide
free books from age birth to five years; this will support 526 kids in Athens.
Athens-Limestone Hospital Foundation
$7,000
Will fund the Meds to Beds program, a collaboration between the Pharmaceutical Dept and Be the Difference
Task Force (hospital employees); will provide free/low-cost meds for un-insured/under-insured, ensuring
patients are discharged with access to prescribed meds.
Athens Main Street
$4,000
Will support the Merchants Alley seasonal concerts in Downtown Athens and help pay for local musicians,
giving them an opportunity to perform for the public; also provides free events for the community that promotes
shopping/dining downtown.
Boys & Girls Club of Athens
$6,500
Will fund supplies and educational field trips for the SAIL summer program (Summer Adventures in Learning);
will target reading/math intervention for 30 kids & enrichment activities for 60 kids; eight-week program that
includes visit to Early Works Museum and author meet-and-greet events; each child will get backpack with
learning materials for home.
Calhoun Community College Foundation
$4,590
Will fully fund a scholarship for a person from Limestone County to attend pre-apprentice lineman school at
Calhoun, which will support furthering that person’s education and career and support a need for more linemen.
Full Tummy
$4,000
Will fund prepared meals for senior citizens at Athens Activity Center; these meals encourage seniors to attend
and socialize, stay active and eat a regular meal with their peers, thereby contributing to their overall
physical/mental wellbeing; the center will serve 726 meals/month.
Hospice of Limestone County
$2,000
Will support Hospice’s Camp Hope, a bereavement camp for kids; will help fund lunch, supplies for activities,
workers’ T-shirts and marketing; the camp teaches kids how to deal with emotions and shows them they are not
alone.
Limestone County Churches Involved
$4,910
Will fund needs for the community’s homeless and low-income population; includes personal hygiene packs,
blankets, food items and utility bill assistance.
Make A Way Foundation
$2,000
Will purchase sensory tents for classrooms in city and county schools; these tents give students with sensory
issues the chance to take a break in the classroom and become calm; will purchase between 25 and 30 tents to
add to program.
MTM Educational Enrichment
$5,000
MTM provides scholarships to students who overcome a hardship to continue their education; will fund a laptop,
printer and software for each recipient, funding about 17 students.
Tie Foundation
$1,500
Will support the Koats for Kids project to provide children in the Child Welfare Caseload at DHR a warm winter
coat; program averages 61 kids among 32 families; referrals are made by social workers, and the kids pick out
their coat on a designated day at Walmart; this supports kids who are placed with families who do not receive
extra funds from DHR.
United Way of Athens-Limestone
$2,000
Will help fund an instructor and purchase teaching materials for ACT prep classes for local high school students;
classes are taught by a state-certified teacher; if there are any excess funds, will allocate those to scholarships
for potential students who cannot afford to attend college.
