$500,000 Three-Year Commitment to City of Refuge

The Chestnut Family Foundation has made a three-year commitment of $500,000 to City of Refuge in support of their youth development programs. The gift will help provide children aged 6 weeks through high school with a safe, supportive environment to access positive educational opportunities. City of Refuge’s programming provides individualized, age-appropriate support to improve academics, health, and social-emotional behaviors. The programs benefitting from CFF’s gift include:

  • City Kids full-day preschool, filled with consistent love and positive influences that help prepare children ages six weeks to 5 years old for success in school and life;

  • City Kids afterschool and summer camp, where elementary students create meaningful relationships, build self-esteem, and stay on track in school;

  • City Youth afterschool and summer camp empowering middle and high school students to make healthy choices for school and career success;

  • City School, enabling students in grades 3-12 to benefit from a high-quality education with small classes sizes and dual enrollment options to prepare youth for life after high school. COR plans to add K-2 so the school will serve K-12 by 2026.

  • The J17 Fund, offering scholarships for post-secondary pursuits that support the transition to a self-sufficient lifestyle.

City of Refuge was founded in 1997 to provide food and shelter for those in tremendous need on Atlanta’s Westside. Their renovated warehouse, the size of a city block, in the heart of zip code 30314 serves as a center “Where Good Works,” connecting some of Atlanta’s most vulnerable citizens to all the services they need to move from crisis to dignity and independence.

We're proud to continue our partnership with City or Refuge and the incredible work they are doing to serve our community!

$90,000 Gift to Los Niños Primero

The Chestnut Family Foundation has donated $90,000 to Los Niños Primero. This gift is aimed to support their Leadership and Educational Program for parents, as well as help provide uniforms for the students’ extracurricular activities.

Los Niños Primero’s mission is to empower Latino students and their families from early childhood to college through holistic academic, leadership, and community programs.

We are very proud to be partnering with Los Niños Primero for the first time and are grateful for the work that they do for our Latino community!

$2,000,000 Donation to the Hurricane Helene Community Crisis Fund for the Central Savannah River Area

In the fall of 2024, the Chestnut Family Foundation donated $2,000,000 to the Hurricane Helene Community Crisis Fund established by the Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area (CFCSRA). The Fund was set up to provide critical services to the communities around Augusta which suffered the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene.

The Fund has funded immediate support and recovery efforts, and the work needed to rebuild and heal from the devastation. CFCSRA has managed and overseen the disbursement of funds to non-profits, most of which are local organizations, which have been actively supporting the hurricane relief effort.

Hurricane Helene had a catastrophic impact on the Augusta area. We are thankful that CFCSRA quickly came forward to organize assistance for the work needed to help the community begin to recover.

$50,000 Donation to Crossroads Community Ministries

The Chestnut Family Foundation is pleased to announce its $50,000 gift made to Crossroads Community Ministries. This donation aims to expand the organization’s Door-to-Door Housing program, as well as support existing programs and services like Clyde’s Kitchen and the Renewal Project.  

Crossroads Community Ministries seeks to provide access to resources that empower people experiencing homelessness to progress on the road toward economic and personal stability.

We are grateful for all the work done by Crossroads in support of all of their guests.

$15,000 Gift to Out of Hand Theater’s Creative Kids Program

The Chestnut Family Foundation renewed its $15,000 commitment to Out of Hand Theater in support of its Creative Kids program. Creative Kids brings the joy of theater and creative expression to students in some of Metro Atlanta’s most underserved communities. The program delivers free, high-quality, in-school and after-school theater programming to the classrooms of schools who would otherwise lack access to arts programming for their students.

Since 2001, Out of Hand has collaborated with dozens of community partners to produce programs that combine art to open hearts, information to open minds, and conversation to inspire action.

We are proud to see this program continue to grow across schools in Atlanta!