The Arrow Lake Foundation was formed in 2013 with the lofty and worthy mission of benefitting the community of Mount Pleasant, Tennessee. The Foundation’s mission is comprised of three pillars -- Health, Education, and Conservation -- and its activities in each pillar are aimed at supporting a better quality of life for all Mount Pleasant area citizens.
The Foundation intends to carry out its mission by engaging in grant-making to charities that benefit the community and otherwise collaborating in activities directed at improving community health. With this goal in mind, the Foundation’s first service project, on the day of its launch, was a community health fair and food distribution program at the Mount Pleasant Community Center benefitting hundreds of citizens. Future plans include numerous community partnerships and collaborative projects to improve the quality of life for all Mount Pleasant area citizens. For example, plans are being developed for a partnership with students on community gardens and orchards, and the Foundation’s focus may include access to high quality medical resources in terms of transportation and affordability as well as availability of health and wellness screenings and vaccinations.
In addition, the Foundation’s long-term vision also includes a focus on working towards revitalizing and reopening Arrow Lake. Arrow Lake is a serene treasure that the Foundation desires to reopen to recreational and educational activities by the general public.
The Community Development Corporation (CDC) has focus areas of Education, Quality of Lifestyle, and Economic Development, and the CDC and the Foundation anticipate that their work will be aligned.
Arrow Lake Foundation
"Committed to Improving Our Community"
Mike Bogdan
Sonny Cummins
Sara Cummins
Jeff Knox
Al Kerstiens
Donna Morency
Jerry Sands
Jared Sweeney
In her vivid, nostalgic essay “Arrow Lake Memories,” Mount Pleasant native and resident Sara Cummins writes poignantly about a simpler time in her and the town’s history that she now sees “through aging eyes.”
“Sleepily, I watch the sun slip through gray clouds, remnants of a nighttime shower. Mist rises quickly over the calm water as ducks diligently begin their morning quest for food. I take a deep breath of morning air and smile at the sweet smell of honeysuckle and tulip poplar trees in bloom. White cranes quietly skim the waters’ edge as a fisherman slides his boat into the water. A couple of hours’ fishing will net him dinner for his whole family, as well as a peaceful time to talk a few things over with the good Lord.”
Mrs. Cummins’ delightful recollections go on to recount a fun family day out fishing at Arrow Lake and the bigger life lessons learned on that and many such excursions: “You see, Arrow Lake was a major factor in making me the person I am today: a person who sees beauty and peace in people and places.”
In recognition of the history and the potential of Arrow Lake and the surrounding lands, the Arrow Lake Foundation has a long-term vision of conserving Arrow Lake and reopening it to the public for health, recreational, and educational opportunities.
The hope of a future that would allow a return to the Arrow Lake of the past is what motivates Sara Cummins to serve on the Board of Directors of the Arrow Lake Foundation. “My heart grieves for the good times I might have relived there with my grandchildren. People just whiz by this place of my past without even knowing what a jewel they missed,” Cummins laments. “This is why I serve on the Foundation. I want to be part of the solution that cleans up the area so Arrow Lake can once again come alive with the laughter of children and the fun of families fishing together.”
Education provides the tools to build solutions for all our challenges. The Arrow Lake Foundation’s commitment to education is going to be exemplified with a two-word guideline: positive collaboration.
The Foundation’s pillars (Health, Education, and Conservation) dovetail with those of the Community Development Center (CDC) (Education, Quality of Lifestyle, Economic Development). The overlap on education provides an opportunity for the organizations to collaborate synergistically for the benefit of the community.
The Foundation wants to work with school leaders, teachers, parents, and students to collaborate on education’s role in improving our community. To this end, the Arrow Lake Foundation has assisted school leaders and teachers who support a nonprofit organization that fills backpacks with necessary school supplies for local elementary students. In the future, the Foundation anticipates developing projects such as partnering with Mount Pleasant High School’s agriculture department to develop an orchard and community garden, a Summer STEM* program, GPS training, and creating hiking trails and using old railroad beds to create walk/bike trails. Such walking and biking trails would be part of a long-term goal of linking Arrow Lake and Mount Pleasant.
*The national STEM push in education places an emphasis on rigor and excellence in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
The Foundation is committed to the health of the community. The Arrow Lake Foundation will be engaged in short- and medium-range projects of practical service focused on improving the health of Mount Pleasant area citizens. Numerous factors are involved in wellness and both individually and cumulatively have a tremendous potential impact on a person’s health destiny, including personal choices about lifestyle, diet, and fitness; access to health information and health care; and environmental health.
Health is the first of the three pillars of the Foundation’s work (Health, Education, and Conservation) because health has a vital and immediate impact on both individuals and the overall community.
With a focus on helping Mount Pleasant area residents have better health opportunities, on the day of the Arrow Lake Foundation’s launch it sponsored a highly successful day of service in which hundreds of citizens participated. The day included a health fair and a food distribution event, both of which were hosted in the Mount Pleasant Community Center. Tying the launch of the Foundation to the hosting of the health fair is symbolic of the Foundation’s Board of Directors’ commitment to practical, measurable service to Mount Pleasant citizens. As succinctly said by Dr. Mike Tyler, a Foundation member, “It’s a great thing for the community to be working together, all of us benefiting from it…that’s the whole mindset of the Foundation.”
