Chattanooga Film Festival January 2014

Recipient: Chris Dortch | Chattanooga Film Festival 

Chris Dortch is another example of a repeat grantee who continues to do amazing work in the community.  His most ambitious project to date, CFF, has huge potential to be a flagship event for the Chattanooga community.  For its inaugural year, UNFoundation sponsored the awards ceremony to the tune of $1500.  The grand prize winning feature film took home $1000, while the best short took home $500.  UNF’er Bijan Dhanani was on hand to present the (giant) checks and the festival as a whole was a huge success.

PowerIT Up: Graphic Design Accelerator for CGLA

Anjali Chandra is a junior at Girls Preparatory School and had an idea. She wanted to teach girls graphic design/computer software skills in order to facilitate entrepreneurship and help them better make their initial step into the business world. PowerIt Up aims to target the scarcity of females in STEM fields and the disparity between school system education and applicability in the real world. The program integrates STEM skills into the girls’ education and also allows the girls to utilize their skills to earn a wage.

How she did it? Graphic Design Professionals and College students majoring in Design taught 9th, 10th and 11th graders at Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy basic skills on Adobe In Design (we funded this software to be clear). After instructional sessions, the girls were connected with local companies as independent contractors, and received a publication project which they will work on for the company. After they complete their design, they will submit it to the corporation and every time it is used, the girl will receive a stipend. Education and exposure creating a wow factor. Wow.

Physical Activity Module October 2013

Recipient: Orange Grove

PAM (Physical Activity Module) is a project developed by The Orange Grove Center, a Chattanooga based non-profit serving children and adults with developmental disabilities, to help increase physical activity amongst their constituents. PAM is a portable media center equipped to bring fun and educational content directly to participants while they are in the gymnasium or aquatic center.  Delivering content in an environment where physical activity can take place, versus a classroom, is the best way to inspire fun and fitness amongst both children and adults.

Yoyo Ma Concert Scholarships November 2013

Recipient: Chattanooga Symphony and Opera

Pardon the pun, but when YoYo-Ma comes to town, people listen.  The opportunity to see a world class musician comes around every once in a while, but not everyone can afford a $75 ticket.  Not many high school or college students have even been to the symphony, much less to see Yo Yo Ma.  That’s why we decided to team up with Chattanooga Symphony and Opera to offer 20 student ticket scholarships via an open lottery process.  Once word got out, we had several anonymous donors contribute to help us send 50 students!  It was a magical evening for everyone, and the students had a blast!

Running With Sasquatch September 2013

Recipient: Ivy Academy

Who wouldn't want to run a 5k along the North Chick Creek while being chased by a huge, furry Sasquatch? Especially when all proceeds go towards Ivy Academy, a Charter school focused on environmental, project-based learning. We just had to fund them! Phillip Mansueto is a teacher and avid runner and positioned this run to be an annual fundraiser for the school. Our funds went towards the overhead to get the race going so all proceeds raised would go straight to the school. They leveraged over $6,000 from our original grant. Way to go, Ivy Academy! 

Art Bikes & Local Students July 2013

Recipient: Kate Warren | Art 120

Art 120 is a local non-profit organization in Chattanooga that was launched to enrich Chattanooga and the surrounding community through the creation, education, and celebration of art.

The organization put together several series of art bike workshops, giving students the opportunity to present a concept in front of their peers, safely use power tools, measure and cut steel beams, and learn how to weld properly from an experienced professional. The kids came up with some fantastic ideas and produced four really cool art bikes: a car, bike, or wheeled contraption that has had its appearance modified to take the form of art. The UNFoundation funded them to take thirteen young minds from Chattanooga to the Mini Maker Faire in Atlanta to show off their creations. They’ll be exposed to over 7,500 makers and guests, and they’ll have the opportunity to see a variety of possibilities for their future.

1 Million Cups Chattanooga June 2013

Recipeint:  1 Million Cups

1 Million Cups is based on the premise that it takes a million cups of coffee and the conversations that begin around them to build a strong entrepreneurial community. Bill Brock and Allie O’Connell visited Kansas City in March where the concept began through a program of the Kauffman Foundation. They started with just a couple dozen people, and has grown to be a weekly staple of their startup community with 250 attendees every Wednesday morning.

1MC Chattanooga kicked off on May 29th with a presentation by Joe Ledbetter of Chattanooga Whiskey. The UNFoundation funded badly needed chairs, a projector, and a screen that was previously being borrowed and scraped together each week from local non-profits. The results are already occurring and gaining momentum each week. New Chattanooga business are getting feedback from potential customers and collaborators. Future entrepreneurs are exposed to an array of types of businesses and projects and attendees are bouncing new business ideas off of one another. 

Mrs. Jessica’s Summer Camp May 2013

Recipient: Mrs. Jessica Lawrence

Mrs. Jessica Lawrence, a longtime resident of East Lake Courts, started a summer camp over ten years ago for the children in her community. She wanted to create a safe and fun place for children to be able to go for the summer months. While social services and education funding is being cut from municipal and state budgets across the United States, the UNFoundation was eager to fund such an awesome example of do-it-yourself community building.

The summer camp ran from May 28 through August 7, with the hopes of transitioning to an after school program. The camp was organized as a collaboration between the East Lake Courts Recreation and Community Center, Grove Street Settlement House, and the Chattanooga Housing Authority—all with the help of some critical volunteers including university students from area Universities and Colleges. A majority of the attendants were students from Clifton Hills Elementary or East Lake Elementary, where over 95% of students are receiving free or reduce lunches. The program provided a critical source of meals for breakfast and lunch each day, but also a place for them to continue critical learning through LEXIA, a computer-based reading program.