News Release:
TELAMON RECIEVES $7500 FROM THE LAURA J KRESS ANGEL TREE FUND THROUGH THE EAST TENNESSEE FOUNDATION

Cocke County, TN., (December 20, 2022)

Due to the generosity of the East Tennessee Foundation, Telamon will help spread holiday cheer to enrolled children and families at the Bybee Center in Tennessee. The Laura J Kress Angel Tree Fund has awarded the non-profit organization $7500 to purchase gifts and toys to support the Christmas for the Children program. This donation will allow Telamon to continue to provide services that empower and support farmworker families and local communities.

The partnership with the East Tennessee Foundation has continually provided generous support and direct services to Telamon families in the past few years. Families received clothing, including coats, toys, books, and even bikes to gift to children. Parents can not only make the holidays cheerful but also cope with the financial stress this time of year brings. This fruitful partnership has allowed both organizations to collaboratively create striving communities.

“It’s times like this when you see how grateful the parents and children are—the gratefulness of the families and how they appreciate it and the huge smiles on the children’s faces—that makes this work so worthwhile.” says Elizabeth Steelman, Director at the Telamon Head Start Bybee Center. As gifts were opened, the parents were almost as excited as the children. Through laughter, and a few tears, parents thanked staff, again and again, saying this was more than their children had ever received for Christmas.

For more information contact Elizabeth Steelman at (423) 415-2887 or email at esteelman@telamon.org.

About Telamon
Telamon is a private nonprofit that provides educational services and programs for low-income families in eleven states. Our core belief is that better jobs lead to better lives which lead to better, stronger communities. We offer early childhood education & Head Start programs, workforce development, and housing counseling services. We started in 1965 by providing supports to farmworkers in North Carolina, but soon expanded to serve families in under-resourced communities. Last year, we served more than 25,000 people with our ambitious and life-changing work. Learn more at telamon.org. #WeAreTelamonTRC

About East Tennessee Foundation
East Tennessee Foundation (ETF) is a public charity and community foundation created by and for the people of East Tennessee, where many donors join together to make the region they love a better place, today and for future generations. ETF, like other community foundations, operates as a collection of hundreds of distinct charitable funds and supporting foundations established by individuals, families, businesses, and other nonprofits. Through their work a wide variety of philanthropic objectives are achieved. Find out more at easttennesseefoundation.org.