Statements
Mission
To address a leading cause of death for children ages 5-14: Automobile accidents. The program is a character-driven presentation to grades pre-K through 4th grade to engage the children in a learning experience to properly use seat belts and booster seats, caution in work zones, and encourage their parents and older siblings not to use cell phones while driving. The program has the participation and support from the Tennessee departments of Safety, Education and Health and has reached over 900,000 children in all 95 TN counties. The main mission: Save lives.
Background
Spurred by the loss of three family members in a year, the wife of the incoming president of the Tennessee Road Builders Association had a passion to "do something" when she became president of the TRBA's Ladies Auxiliary. That passion led to the TRBA launching a seat belt and booster seat education program in partnership with the BusinessMedia Center (Now I-Cube) at Tennessee Tech University. The program was supported by the Governor's Highway Safety Office in the form of and educational grant. The mascot, Ollie Otter, carries his message to school children about booster seat, seat belts and construction zones. The Ollie the Otter program that began with the vision of Livingston's Carol Coleman has grown into a nationally recognized, award winning program that has support from educators, safety health professionals and children's hospitals. The program has impacted all 95 counties of Tennessee reaching over 1,14,000 kids. Coleman's dream is being realized well beyond what she had initially envisioned, and she stays active every day as chair of the Ollie Otter Child Safety Foundation, which administers the Ollie the Otter Program.
Impact
In 2020, Ollie and his team reached a major milestone, reaching over One Million Kids with the program message that booster seats, car seats and seat belts save lives. The goal for Ollie is to continue on to reaching the next million kids by expanding delivery into the virtual classroom. Program leaders and partners strive to increase accessibility so that every child in Tennessee will hear Ollie's messaging.
Needs
The Ollie Otter program has far exceeded all initial expectations and currently reaches at least 350 schools and 80,000 school children each year. Ollie Otter Child Safety Foundation's number one need is to develop additional funding from grants and or corporate or private gifts, to develop educational materials and resources for distribution as the Ollie Program strives to reach every Tennessee school in a five year period. This would assure that every child in the state has had the opportunity to hear Ollie's compelling message between kindergarten and fourth grade. Also, support will enable us to educate parents, children and public officials that traffic accidents are the number one health problem for children ages 5-14.
CEO Statement
Serving as the Executive Consultant to this Foundation has been a highlight of my career. To see a single person, Carol Coleman, inspire a single organization, the Tennessee Road Builders Association, an outstanding management and development team (I-Cube at Tennessee Tech University), and a prime financing and support agency (The Tennessee Highway Safety Office) come together and touch the lives of more than one million Tennessee school children is a legacy of which they can all be proud. And, the beat goes on, now in nine other states, and each year in all 95 Tennessee counties.
Bo Roberts, Executive Consultant
Board Chair Statement
As we enter the 15th year of the Ollie Otter program, we look to advancing reach and delivery so that every family understands the importance of child passenger safety for our smallest passengers. We are exciting for the development of new delivery methods through virtual classroom experiences.
Carol Coleman, Chair
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Public Safety, Disaster Preparedness and Relief - Safety Education |
| Secondary Category: | Youth Development - Single Organization Support |
| Tertiary Category: | Public & Societal Benefit - Citizen Participation |
Areas Served
The Ollie Otter Program is available statewide to any educational organization, community service organization, and public health program that would like to provide occupant protection education as a service for their students.
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