Videos win grant money for zoo, other local groups
Videos win grant money for Chattanooga Zoo, Humane Educational Society, La Paz
A 60-second parody of MTV’s “Cribs” has won the Chattanooga Zoo’s two African crowned cranes money to expand theirs.
The zoo was the Chattanooga area’s big winner in the First Horizon Foundation’s 25 Years of Giving Video Contest, earning a $10,000 grant for a video starring the cranes, Niles and Frasier.
Other local winners were the Humane Educational Society, receiving $5,000, and La Paz Chattanooga, receiving $2,500.
Hannah Hammon, director of marketing and communications, says zoo staffers knew they wanted to use the cranes from the beginning.
“First Tennessee generously donated toward their exhibit when we built it, and our cranes have such great personalities, we knew we could make a fun video with them,” she says. The cranes are voiced by a zookeeper and intern as the video shows the birds eyeing their “goofy-looking” visitors and admitting to be super-excited at the possibility of expanding their surroundings. Hammon says the cranes are sharing the wealth to help finance the zoo’s latest capital campaign, the African Expansion project that will add giraffes to the zoo.
Darde Long, zoo president and CEO, says staffers are thrilled by the win.
“Our staff really worked hard on the video, and the cranes were just superstars,” she says. “We have been privileged to receive funding from First Tennessee over the years and look forward to working with them in the future.”
A total of $275,000 — in increments ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 — will be sent out to 35 organizations across Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia in the contest, which looked for a compelling story of need told in 60 seconds or less.
More than 50 agencies in Hamilton, Bradley and Marion counties submitted videos to the contest, along with hundreds more from the six states served by First Horizon Foundation — more than 500 videos in all. First Horizon Foundation is the private charitable foundation of First Horizon National Corp., the parent company of First Tennessee Bank National Association, which operates as Capital Bank and First Tennessee.
Public voting was open through the end of August, then a panel of judges determined finalists. Winners were announced last week. The idea was
to show in a brief video how a First Horizon Foundation partnership could help or has helped.
La Paz, which serves Chattanooga’s Latino community, will put the money toward remodeling a building that will become the city’s first Latino cultural center.
Their video opened with a “Hola, First Tennessee” greeting from the staff then began a walk-through of the new space, which “needs a lot of work,” says Stacy Johnson, CEO/executive director.
She and communications coordinator Lily Sanchez worked on the script, and Sanchez was behind the camera.
“Our whole team came together at the end to give [First Tennessee] a big gracias for all they have already done for the community,” Johnson says. “First Tennessee has been a faithful supporter of La Paz Chattanooga since we started in 2004, so this is a wonderful way to start our building campaign, with them as our very first donor.”
Bob Citrullo, executive director of the Humane Educational Society, says he’s “grateful to our supporters who took time to vote for homeless animals every day and to First Tennessee. This will make an incredible difference for our animals.”
Videos were judged on storytelling and messaging; creativity and originality; motivation and inspiration; and overall community impact.
The 25 Years of Giving Video Contest commemorates First Horizon Foundation’s quarter century of work to strengthen the communities it serves. Since its inception in 1993, the foundation has donated more than $80 million toward community needs, according to a news release.
The big winners of the contest’s $25,000 grants were Central Piedmont Community College of Charlotte, North Carolina; Friends of the Smokies of Kodak, Tennessee; HopeWorks of Memphis; and New Ballet Ensemble & School in Memphis.
Charles Burkett, chairman of the First Horizon Foundation, says officials were “blown away” by the impactful stories told in the contest. So much so, they tweaked the rules.
“We had planned for 25 awards,” he says. “However the stories were so compelling, we decided to recognize 10 additional organizations with $2,500 honorable-mention awards.”
Jay Dale, president of the Chattanooga market, says he’s excited to provide funds to nonprofits “making such a difference in our community” and the work the local agencies do each day “to address significant needs or provide programs that enrich Chattanooga as a great place to live.”
He notes that the foundation’s annual grant period has reopened. The application process continues through Dec. 1 for grants to be awarded the following year.
“We look forward to continuing to work with so many,” he says.
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-7576281.