"We had tears in our eyes when our Scripps Networks volunteers left -- we felt so blessed by each of them. They truly adopted us, cleaned our walls, replaced our worn out toilet seats, bought supplies we needed -- things we don't take money or time to do. Our office is brighter and cleaner because of them, their kind hearts, their hands and their deeds." Dr. Lois Symington, East Tennessee Technology Access Center
To support our core value of shared responsibility, we invest in national, regional and local initiatives, organizations and events which better our quality of life and support those at risk or in need. In addition to our corporate financial support and involvement, you'll find many of our employees serving on nonprofit boards and as advisors at educational institutions. Additionally, Scripps designates one week each year as Employee Volunteer Week, where hundreds of employees roll up their sleeves and donate their time to various community causes.
Our networks each support the core value shared responsibilty through these important partnerships:
HGTV -- Change the World. Start at Home
“Change the World. Start at Home” is a community revitalization and environmental cause effort launched by HGTV and its nonprofit partners, Rebuilding Together, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The main focus of the campaign is revitalizing communities across the country and helping consumers make better choices for the environment within their homes and daily lives. HGTV and its partners feel home is more than a house with four walls. Home is also our community, our workplace, our country and our world. HGTV believes that as we do in our own homes, we can all play a key role in helping our large and diverse family to have a chance to express who they are and how they want to live in the world. We can design a better home to live better lives.
Food Network -- Share Our Strength
Food Network’s official charity partner, Share Our Strength, works to ensure that no child in America grows up hungry. As a partner of this national organization, Food Network lends a hand in discovering children at risk of hunger and surrounding them with nutritious food where they live, learn and play. Most recently, Food Network and Share our Strength jointly created
Good Food Gardens in San Francisco, New York and Washington, DC. Good Food Gardens are a tangible way for children to learn where food comes from and how to grow it, and experience different types of fruits and vegetables they may not have seen before. Research shows that kids who see where fresh foods come from are much more likely to eat them.
Each year, more than 12 million children in America will worry about when their next meal will come. Share Our Strength and Food Network believe that in the world's wealthiest nation, no child should grow up hungry.
DIY Network -- Lending a Hand Scripps Networks’ support for Habitat for Humanity has grown into a national partnership with DIY Network. This long-standing relationship continues to grow with consistent financial support and many opportunities for Scripps Networks employees to work on building homes including several Women’s Builds. The company continues to hold a seat on Habitat’s Knoxville Board of Directors and provide a national media outlet through DIY Network.
National Urban League
Scripps Networks and the National Urban League (NUL), whose mission is to enable African Americans and other disadvantaged groups to secure economic self-reliance, parity and power and civil rights, entered a partnership in 2008 when Scripps became a sponsor of the NUL Annual Conference. HGTV's Taniya Nayak and Frontdoor's Tara-Nicholle Nelson were featured speakers at the conference. Scripps Networks also works with Young Professional groups across the country to help establish and promote the growth of the NUL. On a local level, Scripps Networks is the presenting sponsor of the Equal Opportunity Awards Gala in Knoxville and the partnership has grown to include representation by Scripps Networks on the board of directors, support of Shoes for School. Scripps Networks helped launch the Knoxville Young Professionals group, which provides an effective forum through which young people can serve their communities through programs in mentoring, tutoring, economic empowerment and leadership development. Scripps has proudly hosted several Young Professional events and will continue as the program grows.
The W.O. Smith Nasvhille Community Music School
The W.O. Smith/Nashville Community Music School, founded in 1984, is a nonprofit educational institution created for the purpose of making quality music instruction available to talented, interested, deserving children from low income families at the nominal fee of 50 cents a lesson. The school also seeks to encourage student participation in the cultural life of the community through concert attendance and performance. Great American Country (GAC) and W.O. Smith have created a partnership which includes a concert series (2008 - 2009), design of the W.O. Smith student van, practice rooms at the new school and board representation. In 2009, GAC's president Ed Hardy will serve as the president of the W.O. Smith Board of Directors. Country music artist Dierks Bentley kicked off the concert series in November 2008.
United Way
The United Way works to advance the common good by focusing on education, income and health.Through the building blocks for a good life: a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health. Scripps Networks supports the United Way through a corporate gift and by conducting a campaign in all our office locations. Across the country the campaign grows each year through donations, volunteer time and awareness for the United Way. The employee Volunteer Days program was created to give employees the chance to volunteer during work hours and assist the needs of the agencies first-hand.
Scripps Networks president, John Lansing, was proud to serve as the 2009 campaign chairperson for United Way of Greater Knoxville. John helped facilitate a hugely popular telethon featuring
Diners, Drive-ins and Drives host, Guy Fieri.
Knox Heritage Foundation HGTV has been a long standing partner of Knox Heritage whose mission is the preservation of places and structures with historic or cultural significance in Knoxville, TN. In partnership with HGTV’s Restore America and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Knox Heritage completed the largest housing initiative in its history with the restoration of two George Barber designed homes in the historic Parkridge neighborhood. HGTV continues to support the organization by underwriting the Summer Suppers series and representation on the Board of Directors.
Friends of the Smokies
The most visited national park in the country, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is located in Scripps Networks’ backyard. The partnership between Scripps Networks and Friends of the Smokies started when Friends approached Scripps Networks about a new design for their donation boxes. A local high school art program was brought into the plan which created a new spin on the partnership. The winning design was and the student’s art work was placed on all the donation boxes throughout the park. A few years later, Scripps Networks brought their production talent to the annual Evergreen Ball, the largest fundraiser for Friends of the Smokies. We continue to be the presenting sponsor and producer of the event.
Austin-East Business Academy
Scripps Networks is an advocate of education in the community and we show this support through a sponsorship of the Austin-East Business Academy. The National Academy Foundation offers Austin-East students an Academy of Finance & Business. The Academy incorporates school-to-career opportunities, Knoxville business mentors, paid internships, college-level coursework and a rigorous curriculum in business, finance and marketing. Students have toured Scripps Networks to get a glimpse into the cable industry and careers that might be available to them. Scripps Networks provides monetary support as well as board members on the Advisory Board and makes donations of needed supplies for the students.
Legacy Parks Foundation
This partnership was established through a Fine Living community grant. The grant will be used for providing markers and informational kiosks throughout greenways in Knoxville. The mission of Legacy Parks Foundation is to assure that our community enjoys exceptional recreational opportunities, natural beauty and open spaces, and that those assets exist for generations to come. Scripps Networks will support this mission through representation on the board of directors, a donation of property and providing volunteers to help with trail clean up.
Innovation Valley
Located in the center of the Southeast United States and gateway to the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains, East Tennessee is an ideal business location. The 15-county Knoxville Oak Ridge region's vibrant, diverse economy provides the perfect balance of economic, workforce and technology resources that companies need to succeed in a global economy. Scripps Networks is one of many major businesses that call Innovation Valley home and continues to provide support through consistent financial donations and lending employee’s talents to create a marketing campaign for the launch of Innovation Valley. Scripps Networks also serves as an ambassador for new business recruitment in this region.
Other organizations we support include:
The National Garden
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tennessee Valley
W.O. Smith Community Music School
Tennessee Theatre
Food Bank for New York City
Asian American Federation Spirit Awards
100 Black Men
Boys & Girls Clubs
ChildHelp of East Tennessee
Country Music Hall of Fame
East Tennessee Children’s Hospital
East Tennessee Economic Development Agency
Hispanic National Bar Association
Hola Festival
Jackie Robinson Foundation
Knoxville Chamber Partnership
Knoxville Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Leadership Knoxville
Martin Luther King Center
Medic Regional Blood Center
New York Urban League
Spelman Women of Color Leadership Conference
Studio Museum of Harlem
University of Tennessee Black Alumni Association
YMCA
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GAC Concert Series