$15,000 Gift to Out of Hand Theater

The Chestnut Family Foundation is excited to share its recent $15,000 donation to Out of Hand Theater to support Creative Kids. Creative Kids is an educational program for children that offers free in-school and after-school theater training to schools serving high-poverty student populations. The kids will get to enjoy and experience 15 weeks of free theatre training classes, where Out of Hand will teach them confidence, communication, collaboration, and creative problem-solving skills.

Out of Hand started in 2001 with the vision of creating a new kind of theater. They seek to use the tools of theater to spark conversations and build a better world.

We're proud to support these students and Out of Hand Theater!

$450,000 Gift to the Georgia Hi-Lo Trail to Expand Kids Bike League Program

The Chestnut Family Foundation has committed to donating $450,000 over the next two years to fund the Georgia Hi-Lo Trail’s expansion of the Kids Bike League program. The program focuses on empowering children in grades 2nd through 8th with confidence and life skills through mountain biking, focusing specifically on children who aren’t usually present in the cycling and outdoor community. It teaches skills such as balance, trail building and safety, and will now offer classes in all eight counties that the Georgia Hi-Lo Trail serves: Greene, Hancock, Washington, Johnson, Emanuel, Bulloch, Effingham and Chatham.

The Kids Bike League program began in 2019, serving 50 children in one county and will now be able to serve 640 children in eight counties every year. They’ll offer four week-long summer camps and a winter camp program with monthly trail workdays in each county throughout the year. The program will emphasize creating positive relationships with the trail communities and teach participants to be stewards of the land by creating new mountain biking trails in their communities.

The need for investment in children who live in our rural communities is great. The Chestnut Family Foundation is proud to support the expansion of this important program. Ben and Teresa Chestnut commented, “We are inspired by the vision for the Georgia Hi-Lo Trail and the Kids Bike League program. Programs like the Kids Bike League are critical to empower and instill confidence in children in our rural communities and inspire the next generation of leaders and land stewards.”

Images courtesy of David Brooker from the 2021 Kaolin Festival Parade

$100,000 Gift to CHRIS 180 to Support Youth Behavioral Health Counseling

The Chestnut Family Foundation donated $100,000 to CHRIS 180 to support their youth behavioral health counseling program. Serving the Atlanta community, CHRIS 180 has been at the forefront of behavioral health and child welfare service delivery since 1981. They provide critical behavioral health services that aid in recovery from past and present trauma, anxiety, depression, and suicidal feelings and that enable children to unlock their potential to achieve. In response to a recent uptick in anxiety, domestic violence, relapse, depression and suicidality in the children and communities they serve – CHRIS 180 reorganized their intake process for counseling to accommodate the drastic increase in volume since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Chestnut Family Foundation’s gift will help fill the gap in services for uninsured and underinsured children, increasing access to trauma-informed counseling services. The kids will access the counseling through telehealth and in-person meetings, promoting healing and a positive sense of well-being and confidence that’ll foster their ability to thrive.

We’re proud to support CHRIS 180 and the critical services they are providing to children, especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Partnership with ArtsNow to Support Remote Learning in Richmond County

ArtsNow and the Chestnut Family Foundation have extended their partnership with a new $231,000 donation. This time, ArtsNow will deliver 300 laptops and Verizon Hotspots (called MiFis) to students in the Hephzibah area of Richmond County. The MiFis come with a 12-month contract so students will have access to the internet at any given time, wherever they are. The laptops come fully equipped with all Microsoft products, which will allow the kids to do all their schoolwork remotely. ArtsNow is handling the distribution of these devices and has leveraged their relationships with leadership in Hephzibah to make this happen.

Considering the continued pandemic and in anticipation of schools going back online, ArtsNow’s initiative couldn't be more important or impactful for the students in Richmond County. We are excited to support these students and are thankful for ArtsNow's continued support and partnership.

ArtsNow’s Richmond County Partnership continues… 2021-2024 Arts Program

The Chestnut Family Foundation has committed a total grant of $388,500 over the next three years to ArtsNow. This 2021-2024 commitment will continue to support their arts program in Richmond County: Ben and Teresa’s home. ArtsNow started this program 3 years ago with the Foundation’s support. Their leadership and arts consultants work with schools and district leadership in Hephzibah to deliver high-quality arts lessons to students and teachers that improve the kids’ learning experiences.

During the worst of the pandemic, they quickly pivoted to all virtual programming to be delivered effectively, and to make sure the students had access to their lessons, they hand-delivered over 300 Chromebooks to the students!

The Chestnut Family Foundation is proud to support ArtsNow, the continuation of this important program, and the Richmond County students.