Anna Marie's Sunday Focus

The YMCA is so much more than a place to lift weights or workout! They offer summer camps, Special Needs/Diverse Abilities programs, water safety, youth sports, Health Care programs like the After Breast Cancer group, and Yoga and gentle workouts for older adults.

The YMCA is a community gathering place, where members form friendships that last beyond the doors of the Y!

Check out all the things that the YMCA can add to your life...

By law, students with disabilities may stay in the public school system until age 21. But what happens to them after that? About 80% of young adults with special needs leaving high school never find employment, even those able and willing. That's where non-profit organization BrightStone comes in!

They offer lifelong learning opportunities while teaching job skills, productive work habits, social skills, computer skills, health an...

Nashville Zoo is a family favorite in Middle Tennessee, with more than 1.2 million visitors last year! The zoological park located just 6 miles south of downtown Nashville has 188 acres, about half of which is developed. This makes Nashville Zoo the 9th largest zoo in the country by landmass!

The Zoo is one of the top tourist attractions in the state, partly because of the popularity of its Jungle Gym. The 66,000 sq. ft. Jungle Gy...

If you're looking for fun things to do with the family, remember Adventure Science
Center! It's a science museum that's LITERALLY out-of-this-world! One of the things they're featuring this summer is a chance to TOUCH another planet! A special exhibit will include a rock from Mars and a life-sized model of the Mars Rover!  
Adventure Science Center offers exhibits that involve the science of the body, of sound, of light, as w...

Tennessee ranks 44th in the nation for Voter turnout. When you see numbers like that, you may think it's because people just don't care. Organize Tennessee says it's partly because we're nearly LAST in the nation for ease of voting. Organize Tennessee works to prevent and respond to issues that prevent Tennesseans from voting. The group also works to keep abreast of and inform voters about precinct changes that could affect them ad...

Family & Children’s Service is connecting individuals and families to hope, to healing, and to one another! They provide a variety of FREE counseling services for individuals and families for a range of issues from depression, domestic violence, substance abuse to suicide prevention and much more. This includes the Crisis Line (615-244-7444) which provides free telephone and text-based crisis intervention to anyone who needs it...

Our Nashville Symphony is known around the world for its Classical music performances of great composers such as Beethoven and Brahms. But there's SO much more going on with the Symphony and at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center!

You can find free community programs, pay what you want programs, educational programs and even symphony musicians getting into local schools to teach, mentor, and play side-by-side with music students. 

Y...

If your loved one needs blood, you're going to HOPE it's available.. but for many Americans, it's NOT THERE! The national blood supply remains at critically low levels and the American Red Cross needs our help to ensure patient care isn't disrupted.

In this interview with Sherri McKinney, Regional Communications and Marketing Director of the American Red Cross - Tennessee Region, hear more about the emergency blood shortage and ho...

YEAH! (Youth Empowerment through Arts & Humanities) is an innovative program founded to empower young people through music! More broadly, participants take risks and create art representative of their similarities and uniqueness. Band collaborations develop entrepreneurial and life skills that lead to future success in all fields.

YEAH!’s lending library provides personal instruments, and their scholarship program removes fina...

Local families who find their hearts are leading them to adopt a child face some big obstacles. Especially when there are plane fares, administration fees, and time off work to make it happen.

One man, who was orphaned as a child, and KNOWS the struggles firsthand, started a non-profit that raises money to help families with adoption fees. The foundation is called "Both Hands" because volunteers serve a widow in their community wi...

Diabetes affects about 1-in-10 of us here in the United States, and with obesity rates increasing, diabetes rates could climb as well! 
Diabetes is one of the top 10 causes of death in America, and causes hundreds of thousands of cases of vision impairment, as well as blood flow problems that can lead to amputations. 
YOU may be at risk and not realize it! 
Shichun Bao, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the...

In Donelson, Tennessee there's a group of volunteers who've been buying, cooking, preparing, and handing out - for free - Thanksgiving meals to those who would usually go without. 

Mark Dickerson - one of the owners of Donelson Cafe and Catering - says their "Truly Thankful Thanksgiving" meals are for those who don't have a plate or a place, and that they can come eat at the Cafe, and join in the fellowship, or just pick up a plat...

Like loaves and fishes, the Salvation Army takes the money you donate at Red Kettles, or online, and uses it to make a difference in the lives of THOUSANDS of local families. They help Nashville's unhoused population get off the streets, onto their feet, and into housing. The Salvation Army helps mothers and kids of domestic violence, get into a safe space, and into a home. And, they help thousands of families and senior citizens a...

Lori James is one of the American Cancer Society's Faces of Hope this year. 

She is a breast cancer survivor who doesn't sugar-coat what it's like to be diagnosed, treated for, and survive breast cancer. She says it doesn't end after the treatments have ended. Lori reminds us that for breast cancer survivors and thrivers, things are never the same. 
Hear her story, and what she hopes we can take away from hearing it. 

Get more...

In this interview, Dena Oneal, Executive Chair of the Rutherford County Walk to End Alzheimer’s gives us info about how to tell the difference between what happens during the normal aging process, and signs that may be symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer's.

You can find the Ten Warning Signs of Alzheimer's HERE!

Dena also tells how to get involved in a local Walk to End Alzheimer's, and gives info about the Rutherford County walk, ...

Hear all about the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event happening THIS WEEKEND from the Senior Development Manager, Tara Shirer! Not only is she involved with this event as a manager, but she is also a breast cancer SURVIVOR!! Hear her journey and about how important the Making Strides walk - and the many other programs the American Cancer Society offers - are in this episode. 

Get more info about the American Cancer Society...

HERE is one of the reasons we KEEP working to increase awareness about breast cancer: Lance Edmiston. He had breast cancer, but didn't get it checked out sooner because he didn't realize it's not just a women's disease.

Lance is one of this year's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer's Faces of Hope survivors, and an ambassador for the 'Men Wear Pink' campaign.

Then, Rashed Fakhruddin, also an ambassador for the 'Men Wear Pink' c...

What a team we have working to spread breast cancer awareness here in Middle Tennessee!

In this interview, meet Dr. Richard Martin (yes, Ricky Martin), a Doctor of Hematology, Medical Oncology at Tennessee Oncology. He talks about new technologies to detect and fight breast cancer, he's part of the American Cancer Society's Men Wear Pink campaign, and he's spreading the word that the BEST outcomes after a breast cancer diagnosis, ...

Thousands of students in Metro Nashville Public Schools are experiencing hardships, and for the past 18 years, the all-volunteer, non-profit Assistance League of Nashville has been working to help make their lives easier. In this interview, The Assistance League President Cindy Pramuk says their goal is to help take the burden of finding and buying school uniforms off the shoulders of these kids and their families. 

As The Ass...