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The Predators Foundation's Board of Directors selects four charities each year to be highlighted throughout the season. These "featured charities" receive a player as a spokesperson, player and Gnash appearances, a story in the Saber Tooth Times, and other unique opportunities for enhanced publicity.
The featured charities for the 2003-2004 season are:
 Community IMPACT!
» Visit their website
With the belief that youth grow up in places, not programs, and, with their creativity and energy, can be an effective change agent in their neighborhoods, Community IMPACT! was formed. Since its inception, several youth have been given scholarship money for post-secondary education and have participated in job-shadowing programs and savings programs, just to mention a few.
The local Community IMPACT! was formed in 2000, and is an affiliate of CI! USA that started in 1990 in Washington, D.C. The first CI! neighborhood here is East Nashville.
Did you know?
In early 2002, Community IMPACT! wanted to create a business that would give students meaningful jobs, help raise more scholarship funds, and help support the activities of the organization. With the help of the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, Community IMPACT! formed a partnership with Bongo Java, allowing students to deliver bags of coffee to the downtown area. For more info on this venture, visit www.ineedmorecoffee.com.
How the Predators Foundation's Grant Money will be used:
The grant money will allow the organization to purchase a van to further help in their mission to allow youth in East Nashville to become change agents in the neighborhoods.
Mission Statement:
Community Impact! trains urban youth to increase educational and economic opportunities for themselves, their peers, and their neighborhood. They mobilize neighborhoods to increase investment in youth, participation in civic life, and optimism in the future. Their vision is to change the way that young people grow up in Nashville, one neighborhood at a time.
 Special Kids
» Visit their website
Special Kids, based in Murfreesboro, was formed in 1998 by Dick Kleinau and his daughter, Carrie Goodwin, because they saw a need for special needs children whose families did not have sufficient resources to receive help.
Today Special Kids consists of nursing, therapy, and counseling staffs that aid special needs children and give support to their families. The organization is rooted in a belief that health care is a Christian ministry that is demonstrated through compassion, personal support, and professional and technical skill.
How the Predators Foundation's Grant Money will be used:
For the necessary capital expenditures to allow them to obtain additional occupational and physical therapy tools to serve the children and to obtain the necessary equipment needed to maximize the space in their gym area.
Mission Statement:
Special Kids' mission is to provide quality and affordable rehabilitation and nursing services in a loving, Christian environment with the support and guidance of the physician. Their goal is that the family unit is important, and by offering quality coordinate services to the special needs community they will assist in keeping the family intact.
 Tennessee Baptist Children's Home, Inc.
» Visit their website
Tennessee Baptist Children's Homes, owned and operated by the churches of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, provides help, including residential care, foster care, and maternity/adoptive services, to children.
The goal of the Tennessee Baptist Children's home is not only to rescue at-risk and abandoned children, but also to build leaders that will positively impact their communities, churches, families and vocations.
Did you know?
The origins of the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home date back to 1891 when Georgia Eastman and a group of ladies from First Baptist Church in Nashville created the Tennessee Baptist Orphans' Home. Originally located in West Nashville, the home moved to Franklin in 1911. The name was changed to its current name in 1953. Today, the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home has 34 homes in 10 locations across the state.
How the Predators Foundation's Grant Money will be used:
The grant will allow them to purchase street hockey gear for the children or add a fence and related accessories around their tennis court.
Mission Statement:
Tennessee Baptist Children's Homes, Inc., an institution owned and operated by the churches of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, has as its objective, ministry in the name of Jesus Christ to orphaned, neglected, dependent, and abused children and their families while leading them to become whole persons in Christ.
 Youth Inc.
» Visit their website
Founded in 1945 by the late Allen Dobson, Youth Incorporated has serviced thousands of Middle Tennessee youth through summer camps, outdoor activities, employment services, and more.
Since the Predators dropped the first puck in 1998, Youth Incorporated has built three inline hockey rinks, one each in Bellevue, La Vergne, and Spring Hill. They also formed and run the Circle YI Ranch, a summer camp program full of activities for youth.
Did you know?
In 1950, Allen Dobson, founder of Youth Incorporated, developed another program called "Hands Across the Sea," bringing twenty-two European teenagers to Nashville to see what life here was all about. Co-sponsored by several Nashville business and professional leaders, this program was one of the first foreign exchange programs ever.
How the Predators Foundation's Grant Money will be used:
The money will help them build a new roller hockey rink in the Mt. Juliet area.
Mission Statement:
YI's mission is to advance the mental, moral, and physical development of boys and girls through a variety of sports, recreational activities, and camping. Their motto is "Building Leaders for Tomorrow." They believe that if young people are placed under the supervision of competent, trained, moral leaders who challenge their minds and bodies, the end product is a good citizen who will grow into a self reliant adult.
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