Statements

Mission

Nashville Tools for Schools is a 501(c)(3) that is 'building for our children's future'. Our mission is to furnish custom projects, at little-to-no cost, which enrich the student learning environment. We provide custom desks, tables, book shelves, smart board platforms, garden beds, and countless other classrooms necessities to many schools within the MNPS system.

Background

In June of 2006, John Carpenter started Nashville Tools for School in a shed at his home. John's vision was to improve MNPS schools and related institutions with the completion of small construction projects and low-cost furniture. The first project completed by John and a very small team of volunteers was a drywall repair at Hillsboro High School. John and the Nashville Tools for Schools volunteers would graduate from the backyard shed to a four-bay workshop at Hillsboro High School, and in May 2017, NTFS entered into a lease agreement with MNPS wherein NTFS has rent-free occupation of a workshop located on Foster Avenue in Nashville. NTFS established Non-Profit 501C3 status in April 2011. NTFS was a recipient of the 2010 Alignment Nashville award for developing community leaders, 2010 Daily's Difference Maker Award, 2010 Mayor's Award for Outstanding System-wide Partner, and the 2009 Honorable Mention Mayor's Award for System-wide Partner.

Impact

Accomplishments:
1. Despite the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nashville Tools for Schools safely completed over 50 projects in 2020 through spring 2021, providing over 600 items to over 35 schools and organizations. These projects included approximately 500 plexiglass safety shields which were crucial to the safe reopening of schools in Davidson County. We look forward to continuing our forward trajectory and are in the process of returning to full operations in conjunction with CDC and Metro safety guidelines.
3. In 2020, NTFS was the grateful recipient of grants from the following organizations: Schneider Electric North America, West End United Methodist Church, The Sertoma Club of Nashville, Truxton Trust and Woodmont Christian Church. Additionally, NTFS participated in Giving Tuesday and The Big Payback sponsored by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. NTFS also gratefully accepted individual donations totaling approximately $5000. With the ongoing repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well continuing school budget shortfalls, the funds received from these grants and fundraising efforts are crucial to NTFS' provision of a wide variety of custom-made, low-cost products to underfunded and underperforming schools within MNPS.
4. We continue to increase our exposure on Twitter and Facebook, and after the assistance of our community partner Hands on Nashville, NTFS has continued to monitor and update its website, which is working well and which has been very useful during the COVID-19 pandemic.
5. As part of NTFS' ongoing collaboration with MNPS, we continue to operate in a wonderful, rent-free workshop located on Foster Avenue. Additionally, two of NTFS' regular volunteers who are physicians by profession were invaluable in establishing and maintaining COVID safety protocols that allowed limited production to proceed during the pandemic.
6. NTFS continually strives to increase the number of schools for which we complete needed projects each year and we hope to increase the community support we receive both financially and through the donation of goods and services in order to increase the number of students and teachers we are able to serve.
7. As of July 2021, eleven board members serve on NTFS' Board of Directors, and the board was able to conduct regular business via Zoom meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are incredibly grateful to our former Board Chair, William Farris, who stepped down in June, and to our new Board Chair, Ben Dodd. Our Board of Directors continues to thrive and support the operation and growth of NTFS.

Needs

In addition to NTFS' current grant funding, we would like to secure a minimum additional $10,000 in grants for each of the next three years for the purpose of reducing project costs to the schools and teachers. NTFS has been advised that we will not be receiving grants from West End United Methodist Church and Truxton Trust this year, so while NTFS will make grant application to our previous grantors , we are also hopeful that we will secure new grants this year. In order to become less reliant on solely on grants to fund NTFS operations, we would also like to continue building on our goal of engaging MNPS and potential donors via increased marketing and implementation of fundraising outreach via NTFS' quarterly newsletter. NTFS will also continue highlighting production efforts and successes via social media and the NTFS website.

Board Chair Statement

NTFS is incredibly grateful for the grant funds we have received this year, as well as the donations that we received via Giving Tuesday and The Big Payback. Our ultimate goal is to secure sufficient funding to cover 100% of project costs for schools and teachers. NTFS has a dedicated staff of highly-skilled volunteers who produce high-quality projects in a timely fashion with speedy delivery to the schools.

Despite the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are honored to have safely completed over 50 projects in 2020 through spring 2021, providing over 600 items to over 35 schools and organizations. These projects included approximately 500 plexiglass safety shields which were crucial to the safe reopening of schools in Davidson County. We look forward to continuing our forward trajectory and our return to full operations in conjunction with CDC and Metro safety guidelines.

We always want to increase awareness of NTFS and the large number of services we provide, and we are currently pursuing this goal with regular updates to our website and to social media as well as through distribution of NTFS' quarterly newsletter.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Education  - Elementary & Secondary Schools
Secondary Category:	Youth Development  -
Tertiary Category:	Community Improvement, Capacity Building  -

Areas Served

Our primary focus is on public schools within the Metro Nashville Public Schools system that are in need of low-cost, high-quality construction, repair and improvement projects.

TN - Davidson