Community Chest Spotlight: Little Bellas

The 2021-22 Sewanee Community Chest Fund Drive is underway. Sponsored by the Sewanee Civic Association, the Sewanee Community Chest raises money yearly for local charitable organizations serving the area. This year’s goal of $102,291 will help 20 organizations that have requested basic needs funding for quality of life, community aid, children’s programs, and those who are beyond Sewanee but still serve our entire community. Currently, we are at 92 percent of goal.
This week we shine the spotlight on Little Bellas.
Little Bellas is a national organization, with an active chapter in Sewanee. Little Bellas is a mentoring on mountain bikes program that is open to girls of all abilities. The goal is to create an environment where learning mountain biking skills, building confidence, and growing the camaraderie among young girls is centered around having fun. The focus is getting families out into nature and onto the trails.
The Little Bellas program enables girls who may not be as active to try cycling as a method to get into nature and have fun, thus creating a habit around getting kids outside. The program is non-competitive, but more about forming relationships between girls, and between girls and volunteer women mentors.
Little Bellas will receive $250 from the Sewanee Community Chest for program/project-based support in the children’s program funding area. This grant will be used to help with tuition assistance and loaner equipment for girls to go to summer camp. The camp will work with 12 to 20 girls between the age of 7-13. Four women in the community will be volunteering to mentor the girls during the camp. The camp will offer games, working on bike skills, riding the trails, and having fun.
Since 1908, the goal of the Sewanee Community Chest has been to help citizens by funding the community. With Community Chest donations, local organizations provide for basic needs such as books, food, animal care, housing, scholarships, recreational spaces, elder care, children’s educational needs and more. The Sewanee Community Chest is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and donations are tax-deductible. Send your donation to Sewanee Community Chest, P.O. Box 99, Sewanee, TN 37375. Donate online through PayPal Giving. https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/119597