News and Events

Summer is here and that means one thing for the Children’s Home….LOTS of children!  The number of school-aged children at CH/CS more than doubles during the summer months, and we use a lot of creativity, staff, and resources to keep them busy.  The addition of lifeguards, art supplies, new staff members, and an increase in the amount of food prepared every day puts a strain on our budget.

The parents who enroll their children for the summer are assessed a fee according to their income.  This allows them to afford child care while they continue to work, but it does not cover our costs.  In fact, the average weekly fee for a child is only $50 and includes three meals every day!  Our cost for that child is almost $100 per week, so we need $50 per week, per child to be able to fully fund our program.  Once you consider that we have more than 150 school-aged children, you can see that our need is great!

If helping these wonderful children isn’t reason enough, we can also tell you that your donation will be matched in full by the Maclellan Foundation.  So, if you choose to make up the difference of one child for a month at $200, you will really be helping that child for two months.  Your impact will be doubled!  Simply click here to make a donation!  Thanks in advance for helping us make it a great summer for so many at-risk children!

CH/CS relies on many people like you to provide care to the hundreds of children we serve every year.  In fact, more than 4,000 volunteers put in over 20,000 hours of their time in 2009.  We honor all of them at our annual Friends Luncheon, held this year on April 20^th.  Several of the volunteers were chosen to receive awards for their outstanding service to CH/CS.  Lindsey Garth, pictured at left, won the award for "Volunteer of the Year".  She has put in many hours of time helping in the Volunteer Office.  As a young child, Lindsey was in our early childhood education program and is proud to give back to the agency.  GPS teachers Weezie Cook and Linda Mines accepted their award for "Volunteer School Group of the Year".  GPS students have been excited to help us in many ways for the past 20 years.  TVA Nuclear won the award for "Volunteer Business Group of the Year".  Kristie McCarthy and P. Gail Smith accepted the award on behalf of the hundreds of employees who volunteered their time at CH/CS last year. Susie Straussberger was awarded the  "Thrift Store Volunteer of the Year" for the second year in a row.  We are so thankful to everyone for their tireless dedication to our children!