The Empty Stocking Fund: How to give back with Knox News
Our goal is to distribute food to 3,000 families during the holidays this year.
Gifts have already been bought and exchanged between friends and family, but what about the gift of giving back?
As the giving season continues this winter, you might be looking for ways to get more involved with the community, whether that’s through donating to or volunteering for a local organization.
With many groups in Knoxville working to better the lives of others, it can be tough to figure out where to direct your personal attention. There are too many nonprofits to name them all, but here’s some information about the missions of a few.
- Mission: “The mission of Beck is to be the place where Black history and culture are preserved, nurtured, taught and continued,” according to the nonprofit’s website.
- About: The Beck Center was established in 1975, emerging in response to urban removal in Knoxville, which displaced Black families, businesses and organizations. The nonprofit stewards East Tennessee’s Black history and culture, and its museum, located on historic property, features artifacts and information that tell the story of the area’s Black community.
- Where to find them: 1927 Dandridge Ave., beckcenter.net
Bridge Refugee Services
- Mission: “To provide opportunities for refugees to rebuild their lives after suffering persecution so that they may become productive, contributing members of the community,” according to the organization’s website.
- About: Bridge Refugee Services operates in Knoxville and Chattanooga and works to assist refugees with the transition to the U.S. through help with finding affordable living situations, job training and placement, resources for K-12 students and their parents, and access to health care, public services and basic necessities.
- Where to find them: 4420 Whittle Springs Road, bridgerefugees.org
- Mission: “Centro exists to connect, celebrate, and elevate our community, and we envision an East Tennessee in which all Latino/a/e/x people can thrive culturally, educationally and economically. Our mission is to promote empowerment and civic participation through education, workforce development, youth and family engagement, and community-strengthening initiatives,” the group’s website states.
- About: Centro Hispano provides programming and resources to Latinos living in East Tennessee, such as afterschool programs and mentoring for youth, HiSET/GED classes taught in Spanish, English classes, financial education workshops, and help connecting with partners that provide legal counsel, health care and housing services.
- Where to find them: 201 Third Ave. on the third floor, centrohispanotn.org
Drums Up Guns Down
- Mission: “The mission of Drums Up Guns Down is to curb the cycle of gun violence in our communities by using drums and dance as tools for students to express themselves and heal from past traumas,” according to the nonprofit’s website.
- About: At Drums Up Guns Down, youth and young adult participants study and perform West African drum and dance. Classes include social-emotional learning activities. Drums Up Guns Down also holds the annual Peace in the Street March and a summer camp at Vine Middle School.
- Where to find them: drumsupgunsdown.com
- Mission: “Empty Stocking Fund, a 100% volunteer-run organization, brings East Tennessee families in need together around the table at the holidays by proving baskets with nutritious, festive foods that might not be available from pantries,” according to the News Sentinel Charities nonprofit.
- About: The Empty Stocking Fund – which dates all the way back to 1908 – raises money year-round to provide more than 3,000 local families with a special holiday meal basket, and organizes volunteers to distribute that food each December.
- Where to find them: esfknox.org
Girl Talk
- Mission: “Girl Talk empowers girls to become their best selves by reducing the likelihood of teen pregnancy and helping them to advance educationally,” according to the nonprofit’s website.
- About: Girl Talk promotes education and empowerment for girls and young women through one-on-one mentoring, 10-month courses that teach necessary life skills, and college and career tours.
- Where to find them: 625 Market St. in Suite 1301, girltalkinc.com
Joy of Music School
- Mission: “To provide quality music education for financially disadvantaged, at-risk youth,” according to the organization’s website.
- About: Youth ages 6-18 in low-income families can receive free weekly private or group music lessons intended to build self-esteem and discipline. In addition to general music classes, students can focus on strings, baritone ukulele and multimedia production and engineering.
- Where to find them: 1209 Euclid Ave. NW # 1, joyofmusicschool.org
Random Acts of Flowers
- Mission: “Random Acts of Flowers improves the emotional health and well-being of individuals in health care facilities by delivering recycled flowers, encouragement and personal moments of kindness,” according to the nonprofit’s GuideStar profile.
- About: The organization recycles flowers to create bouquets and delivers them to folks who are ill, injured and aging.
- Where to find them: 2936 Middlebrook Pike, rafknoxville.org
Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee
- Mission: “Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee is leading the community in the fight to end hunger,” according to the organization’s website.
- About: Second Harvest works to mitigate food insecurity by providing meals to neighbors in need across 18 counties in East Tennessee, where food is distributed through a variety of partner agencies and programs.
- Where to find them: 136 Harvest Lane, secondharvestetn.org
Hayden Dunbar is the storyteller reporter. Email hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com.
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