Community

GiVE 365, an initiative of the Community Foundation, is a simple idea with a profound impact.  It's all about philanthropy - a dollar a day.  By joining GiVE 365, your contribution is pooled with those of other members, and you get a significant role in deciding which organizations will receive grants.

There are currently about 200 members (and counting). And the more members, more money available for grants for our community.  The impact is growing stronger and stronger. 

Check out GiVE 365's facebook page and website.  For more information, you can contact Ashley Harper at (901) 722-0022.

If you don’t know Kerry Crawford Trisler, you don't really know Memphis. 

She’s our city’s biggest cheerleader, blogging for the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau at www.ilovememphisblog.com, highlighting the best of what’s happening in the Mid-South.  

Kerry starting blogging about two years ago about what makes Memphis a great place to live or visit.  And there’s never a shortage of reasons; the food, the attractions, the music and Memphians themselves keep Kerry busy with ideas and reasons to love Memphis. 

 She’s uncovered and shared some of the lesser-known treasures of our city: anything from random art on the sidewalk to the best Memphis souvenirs on Beale Street (musical toilet seats, anyone?). She’s tackled the tough job of ranking the best of Memphis barbecue in her Barbeque Bracket Challenge.  She’s hunted for ghosts.  She’s climbed a rock wall, though she’s afraid of heights.  We’re pretty sure she’ll try anything once.  

One thing is for sure – she’s making Memphis much, much cooler, one blog post at a time.

Located in Memphis is the expansive gem of a park that is Shelby Farms. City dwellers and suburb residents alike are able to seek respite from buildings and hustle and bustle to enjoy the green grass, trees and ponds that let you escape into nature. Whether you prefer challenging yourself to a vigorous bike ride on one of the many trails or relaxing beneath a tree with a picnic, it is hard to identify anyone who could not find an activity afforded by the park to take pleasure in. We know we sure love the park. Included in the many things to do at Shelby Farms are fishing; disc golf; running, walking, and biking trails; and paved paths for roller blading or simply avoiding soggy grass. The options are endless and varied and appeal to most Memphians. Hard core athletes utilize the park to train for marathons, bookworms enjoy the serenity of the environment to devour an interesting novel, and families appreciate the playground as their children delight in swinging higher and higher.  

Shelby Farms is run by Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, and the conservancy has been granted an historic opportunity to manage, operate and lead Shelby Farms Park with its overall mission being to give rise to the next great 21st century park that defines and shapes a great city. Memphis, being home to over 676,000 people (making it the 19th largest city in the U.S.), benefits immensely from the conservancy’s mission and Shelby Farms is a part of what we think makes Memphis great.  

The next time you find yourself dreaming of seeing some buffalo, in need of a fun afternoon of paddleboat riding, or looking for a place to meet your friends and throw a Frisbee; then head over to the 2,900 acres known as Shelby Farms.

Gaskill Strategies loves BRIDGES, USA.

BRIDGES is a non-profit organization based in Memphis, Tennessee that touches the lives of more than 15,000 individuals each year through experiential learning and leadership training. The mission of BRIDGES is to build a community of leaders to advance racial, economic, educational, and environmental justice. Through its various programs, BRIDGES seeks to develop and utilize the leadership potential of all its participants, who include teenagers and adults from diverse cultural backgrounds. By bridging gaps that exist due to racism, discrimination, and naiveté, BRIDGES hopes to foster a community of leaders to build relationships among program participants and across the entire city of Memphis.  

We not only respect BRIDGES’ mission, but also how the organization chooses to implement the mission. Additionally, we are impressed at how the physical space of BRIDGES represents the mission. The spectacular building that houses BRIDGES’ community programs also functions as the organization’s ultimate communication technology. This structure speaks to the surrounding community and deliberately communicates the organization’s mission and values. According to BRIDGES President Jim Boyd, “there were several principles that guided the design of the building. We wanted a building that said we love kids, that we care about the neighborhood and the natural world, and that taught and surprised”  

In line with the vision of environmental sustainability, the BRIDGES Center is the city’s first green commercial building. However the space goes far beyond what one might envision a green building to be. The BRIDGES Center sits in the shadow of the Hernando-DeSoto Bridge in downtown Memphis and echoes that symbolism through its exquisite architecture. It is one of the newest buildings in the downtown area, yet it was intentionally built in such a way that it does not overpower the surrounding neighborhood. The center is purposefully no taller than the highest building in the area, the local church, to drive home the message that BRIDGES has no intention of taking over or dictating policy for the community; on the contrary, BRIDGES strives to serve as an equal partner with local residents and organizations.  

The meaning behind the BRIDGES Center extends to the inside of the building as well. Plentiful windows allow natural light to flood all of the interior spaces. This symbolizes the organization’s mission to bring the outside in and operate in tandem with nature. It also serves to motivate and inspire the employees and program participants therein. The center’s conference room table—shaped like an oval so that no one is ever at the head—is a one-of-a-kind piece composed of different color sustainable woods brought together to enhance one another’s natural beauty. The open floor plan and interior glass walls support an atmosphere of teamwork, camaraderie, and positive internal communication.  

For these reasons and more we are proud to call BRIDGES a client.