Happy New Year! Celebrate with the Indoor Cycling For Charity Spin-a-thon.

Start the New Year off right with “Indoor Cycle For Charity” spin-a-thon at the North Rutherford YMCA Ronald Reagan Family Center in Smyrna.

Classes will take place between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Wednesday, New Years Day in 45-minute increments at the North Rutherford YMCA Ronald Reagan Family Center, 2001 Motlow College Blvd, Smyrna, TN 37167. 

There is a suggested $10 donation per person. Every participant will receive bottled water, healthy snacks and be eligible for a door prize. Those who contribute $20 or more will receive a t-shirt.

The Indoor Cycle For Charity event will hosted by guest instructors Crystal Martin, whose selected charity will be Progress Inc., which provides care to seniors and people with disabilities, and Jessie Casey Clark, whose selected charity is the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, funding research for Type 1 Diabetes. Each class will feature a unique theme and heart-pumping music.

A reservation is required and can be made by calling the North Rutherford YMCA during regular business hours at (615) 220-9622. Reservations will be taken until Tuesday, Dec. 31. You do not need to be a YMCA member to participate, but non-members should plan to arrive 5 minutes early to sign in as a guest.

Event co-chairs and their selected charities are:

Jessie Casey Clark – JDRF – Classes 7 a.m. & 8 a.m. http://midtennessee.jdrf.org

Crystal Martin – Progress Inc. – Classes 9 a.m. & 10 a.m. http://progress-inc.org

Go to Ruby Tuesday's This Friday, Saturday or Sunday to "GiveBack"

GiveBack Program will donate 20 % of every meal purchased along with this flyer.

• 
  Ruby Tuesdays is inviting you to Clean Your Plate for Progress!
  Print the image above and present it at the locations listed below for lunch or dinner on Dec. 13, 14 or 15, and Ruby Tuesday's donates 20 percent of the proceeds to Progress. 
• 
  NASHBORO SQUARE • 2304 MURFREESBORO PIKE • 615-366-0314
  DONELSON PIKE • 520 DONELSON PIKE • 615-316-0278
• 
  Ruby Tuesday's GiveBack program will help dozens of children with disabilities attend Progress Inc.'s summer camp Camp Progress.
  
  Grab your family and friends and join us at one of the locations.
  

  *Must present this flyer to your server in order to be considered a part of the GiveBack program. Ruby Tuesday's will not accommodate coupon usage or other discounts in conjunction with our GiveBack Program.

Valentine's Day Fun with Belmont students & Progress

Belmont grad student Cantrell Ellis guides Vanlisha’s hands as she draws a heart inside her greeting card for the arts & crafts project.

Red and pink construction paper sprawled across the day center can only mean one thing - It's the season of love. 

Vanlisha, Shonda and others got a head start on Valentine's Day by making cards for their companions,  friends and loved ones. They had the help of Belmont University grad student Cantrell Ellis. She helped make sure the "hearts" and sweet messages were just right for everyone's special Valentines.

Ellis is one of six students that will spend the next three months at Progress fulfilling Progress’ mission of keeping seniors and adults with disabilities healthy, happy and safe.

The graduate students, who are studying Occupational Therapy, will assist Progress staff in the homes of seniors who receive in-home care and they will also participate in the community activities and employment support teams for adults with intellectual disabilities supported a Progress Inc., a non-profit agency that provides staff support to more than 150 clients.

The volunteer hours will be clocked as fieldwork hours towards the students’ degrees. Belmont selects various human services sites each year for students to get hands-on experience. Progress was one of those fortunate agencies to be chosen by Belmont Academic Fieldwork Coordinator Shelley Hix last fall.

To our wonderful Belmont students, THANK YOU!

Please share this post to highlight this great partnership between Belmont & Progress. To hear more about our updates & stories of Progress, visit our recently updated Progress Inc. website.

Progress Inc. clients Shonda Pevahouse, Vanlisha Harbison and Billy Goodman watch as Belmont graduate student Cantrell Ellis assembles a construction paper Valentine’s Day card.

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.