2012 Top 5 Disability & Senior Blog Posts

2012 was a great first year for the Pressing Forward with Progress blog.

We've had more than 2,600 views of our various blog posts!
We posted about our clients, events & awards more than 30 times! And now we're sharing the top 5 most read blog posts of 2012:

SMART Holds First Donation Day

Channel 5 News Covers Story on Progress' Supported Employment 

Robert Page Becomes Employment Idol 2012

Jerry Adams artwork on display at Vanderbilt's Kennedy Center

Spotlight on Seniors: Scams Against the Elderly

We thank you & we welcome feedback. Please let our Progress blogger Stephanie Toone know what you'd like to hear more about in the New Year.

This year, we have the return of two amazing events Festival on the Fairway and the E.N.D. East Nash Dash. We also have the launch of SMART - Scrap Made Art to look forward to.

Here's to many more Stories of Progress in 2013.

Holiday Trash 101: Regift, Recycle & Reclaim

Now, that the holidays are coming to end. You're probably looking for ways to get rid of gifts, holiday cards, wrapping paper and everything else under the sun. Progress has just the solution. Donate your holiday items, materials around the house filling up space or an array of other items to  SMART!  Scrap Made Art. Our repurposed arts & supplies store, which will officially launch in the New Year, is accepting donations now.

Reclaimed holiday cards.

Reclaimed holiday bows.

The reclaimed items, from wire hangers to greeting cards, will be sold in bulk at affordable prices to artists, teachers & craftspeople looking to reduce Nashville's waste and make art from scraps. We already have a large inventory of fabric, buttons, yarn, metal scraps and much much more. We can schedule appointments for drop off, so before or after the New Year, we're here to help!
We'll have a store opening soon, but we are already storing our inventory, so if interested in donating items or learning more, please contact Kelli Monday at k.monday@progress-inc.org. 

Here's an idea of items you could donate to SMART! today:
• Recycle wrapping paper, card stock type gift tags, cards and envelopes along with all the holiday catalogues and promotional mail.
• Boxes, ribbons, bows and other gift decorations
• Save used Christmas cards that can be used as gift tags for next year

New Arts & Crafts Program @ Progress Volunteer Now!

Want to give back in a personal & rewarding way this holiday season?

Volunteer your time to make beautiful pieces of art alongside our Progress clients at Progress . The newly launched arts & crafts program at our Day Center gives our adults with intellectual disabilities an opportunity to express themselves freely and enhance their days. 

The weekly one-hour Arts & Crafts session is a blast for our folks. The crafts class take place every Friday from 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. 

If you'd like to get involved by helping assist our folks with painting, pasting & crafting, please contact Stephanie Toone at s.toone@progress-inc.org.

A Happy Holidays Thank You from Progress Inc.

#ChirpforCharity & Progress can win up to $2,000. GO TWEET NOW!

We’re excited to participate in The Community Foundation’s 2012 Holiday Tweet-a-Thon, and we need your support to help us win up to $2,000 between today and Dec. 21!

With one tweet naming @ProgressNash (Progress' Twitter Handle), we’ll be entered to win dollars to support our work!
 But the more tweets sent to The Community Foundation (@CFMT), the more chances we have to win. 

Here’s how it works:

1) Follow CFMT on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CFMT. The campaign runs December 7–21, 2012. HURRY, don’t miss your chance to help us win with a simple tweet!
2) Tweet this sentence:
#ChirpforCharity Help @ProgressNash get up to $2,000 from @CFMT by RT this! Info: http://ht.ly/fSLis

Tweets eligible for selection must be directed to @CFMT. Please include the tag #ChirpforCharity.

3) Each time our name is submitted by a unique Twitter user, we’ll be entered into the drawing, so ASK YOUR FRIENDS & FOLLOWERS TO retweet!

Please share this post & RT the sentence we've shared above. 
More details about the contest & the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee below:

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Prizes & Drawing Dates:
Each nonprofit winner will be pulled from a random drawing.
Drawing 1 – Wednesday, Dec. 12 – $500 grant to nonprofit
Drawing 2 – Tuesday, Dec. 18 – $500 grant to nonprofit
Drawing 3 – Friday, Dec. 21 – $1,500 GRAND PRIZE grant to nonprofit
Don't delay - All nonprofits nominated during the two-week campaign period are eligible to win the GRAND PRIZE drawing on Dec. 21, AND cumulative votes throughout the two-week period will be counted! That means, we need tweets throughout the campaign, Dec. 7-21.
Learn more at www.cfmt.org/chirpforcharity.

www.progress-inc.org