2018 Hamilton Funding Recipients Announced
Every year, JLN receives a bequest from the will of Charles Baker Hamilton in memory of his mother, Mary Ann Pierce Hamilton. The money is to be used per Mr. Hamilton’s will to “help enlighten the hearts of the ‘inmates’ at Christmastime in whatever manner the Board of Directors or Trustees might choose. This is in memory of my mother, Mary Ann Pierce Hamilton.” The term ‘inmates’ was used to describe the children who were patients at the Home for Crippled Children that was founded by JLN.
A portion of these funds are used every year to buy a gift for each child who is a patient at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt on Christmas morning. The gifts are purchase and wrapped by JLN volunteers and delivered to the hospital to be distributed on Christmas morning.
This year, The JLN Grants Committee received more than $44,000 in requests for Hamilton funding from more than 30 proposed initiatives. In reviewing the proposals, the alignment and direct impact of Mr. Hamilton’s direction to specifically “enlighten the hearts” of children at Christmastime was carefully considered. While all agencies who submitted applications met this in some way, only funding for those activities that most directly enlighten these children during Christmastime was awarded.
The 2018 JLN Grants Committee Review recommended and the 2018‑2019 Junior League of Nashville Board of Directors approved, in accordance with the Hamilton bequest, funding as follows:
Funds designated to fund a “Reading with Santa” party for all McNeilly children & families. Activities include story time and pictures with Santa, ornament making and cooking decorating, and the purchase and installation of a reading tree that will create a warm and inviting reading area, which will be decorated with the ornaments the children make.
Funds designated to support the gifts to be wrapped at the December 13th & 14th, 2018 Christmas Wrapping Party, where PTM youth will be able to identify 5 people to whom they would like to gift a present. With their “shopping list”, they will be able to select from a variety of gifts to give, honing in on the important virtue of giving. A dinner with festive music and decorations will follow.
Funds to be designated for their Holiday Heroes Program ‑ “Last Minute Kids” serving older male and female youth in their YVLifeSet as well as funds requested for the Wallace Group Home Holiday party (children in foster care).
Funds will used for children served by Oasis to meet their most basic needs, nourish their spirits and provide hope, healing and joy during a time when they may feel lonely, forgotten or unloved. Wish list items to include: holiday backpacks, holiday gift packs for 20 December shelter residents, a holiday meal for homeless youth, a holiday party for teens in shelter, 20 bus passes, and special outing for teens in shelter.
Funds to be designated for holiday out-of-school daily activities for children at the shelter, between the ages of 5‑18. Activities include: ornament making parties, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa celebrations, Holiday matinee movie with concessions, Jump Street, Ice Skating at Ford Ice with lunch downtown, Nutcracker performance and dinner with parents, and a Gingerbread House competition.
Monroe Carell Jr., Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt
- Funds to be designated for JLN’s annual Christmas gifts for patients. Every child who spends Christmas Eve night at the Hospital will receive a gift on Christmas morning. JLN volunteers purchase, wrap and deliver all the gifts prior to Christmas.
- Funds to be designated for holiday decor for their new expansion floors.
- Funds to be designated for board books purchased during the holiday season to bring joy the patients.
Vanderbilt-Meharry Center for Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease
Funds designated for a patient and family‑oriented Holly Jolly Carnival Celebration, where accomplishments of the Sickle Cell program for the year and for the upcoming year will be shared. Activities include face painting, a magician, small gifts for children, and an opportunity for families to frame a photograph from the photo booth.
Vanderbilt Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Funds designated for the siblings and families of neonates. They will take a bus to Gaylord Opryland Hotel to view the Christmas lights, have dinner, and go through the Ice! How the Grinch Stole Christmas exhibit. This would allow NICU families to have a holiday memory with their children that they otherwise could not afford.
Total amount given: $42,199