Spectrum awarded Boys and Girls Clubs in Tennessee a $10,000 Spectrum Digital Education grant and 30 laptop computers for their Digital Connect Program. The grant is part of the broadband connectivity provider’s six-year, $8 million commitment to promote digital education and broadband technology in communities across the country.
“It is wonderful to see companies like Spectrum actively stepping up to support organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs,” said state Senator Adam Lowe. “Spectrum’s Digital Education Grant will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the children and people of this community to succeed at school and in the workplace.”
Boys & Girls Clubs in Tennessee is using the funding to provide equipment and software to create or expand Spectrum Digital Connect technology labs at three Club sites to be used by youth and families for programming.
The $10,000 grant is the fourth Spectrum Digital Education grant for Boys & Girls Clubs in Tennessee, bringing total Spectrum support for the organization to $80,000 over the past four years.
“In our online world, digital skills are critical to navigating everything from finding a job, to going to school, to buying groceries – yet too many families still have not adopted internet at home,” said Rahman Kahn, vice president of Community Impact for Charter Communications, Inc., which operates the Spectrum brand of Internet, Mobile, TV and Voice services. “As one of the largest internet providers in the U.S., Spectrum is committed to supporting local initiatives like Boys & Girls Clubs in Tennessee that promote digital literacy and inclusion and help educate to community members in Bradley County about the value of adopting broadband in their lives so they can succeed in today’s connected society.”
The grant funding will facilitate the Boys & Girls Clubs Digital Connect Program in three locations across the state including:
- Boys & Girls Clubs of the Ocoee Region, Blythe Unit (Bradley County)
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Vonore (Monroe County)
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Johnson City / Washington County
“For the past four years, Spectrum has provided our Digital Connect Program with funding and equipment that has allowed us to engage area youth through digital arts and activities, as well as provide family and community members with computer access who might not have so outside of our Clubs,” said T. Ryan Hughes, executive director, Boys & Girls Clubs in Tennessee. “I want to thank them for their latest donation, and their continued partnership and investment in our communities.”
Boys & Girls Clubs in Tennessee is one of 47 nonprofit organizations that Spectrum is supporting through its 2022 Spectrum Digital Education grant program. In all, the company will invest $1.1 million this year to support digital literacy in underserved rural and urban communities within Spectrum’s 41-state service area, including Tennessee. Spectrum launched the program in 2017, recognizing that education and digital literacy are as important as affordability relative to a household’s lack of broadband services. Charter has funded more than 120 nonprofit organizations in 23 states and Washington, D.C., through Spectrum Digital Education.
More information about Spectrum Digital Education and Charter’s philanthropic initiatives to support communities is available here.