Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee Senate Bill SJR0148 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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2	2	<BillNo> <Sponsor>
3	3
4	4	SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 148
5	5	By McNally
6	6
7	7
8	8	SJR0148
9	9	000097
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12	12	A RESOLUTION to commend and recognize The Ayers
13	13	Foundation on the occasion of its twenty-fifth
14	14	anniversary.
15	15
16	16	WHEREAS, it is appropriate that we pay tribute to those exemplary organizations that
17	17	work with purpose and conviction to improve the quality of life in their communities; and
18	18	WHEREAS, one such estimable charitable venture, The Ayers Foundation, has been
19	19	making a difference in the lives of Tennesseans for the past twenty-five years; and
20	20	WHEREAS, The Ayers Foundation was founded by Jim Ayers, who grew up in the West
21	21	Tennessee town of Parsons and recognized firsthand the disparity between those promising
22	22	students whose families could afford a college education and those whose families could not;
23	23	and
24	24	WHEREAS, after completing his college education, Mr. Ayers found great success in the
25	25	healthcare management and banking industries, eventually becoming the sole owner of
26	26	FirstBank, Tennessee's largest independently owned and operated bank; and
27	27	WHEREAS, he established The Ayers Foundation in 1999, and in the twenty-five years
28	28	since, the organization has made an important, lasting impact on the lives of many
29	29	Tennesseans; and
30	30	WHEREAS, The Ayers Foundation supports a wide range of programs and institutions,
31	31	with an emphasis on education in Henderson, Perry, and Decatur counties; in its first decade of
32	32	operation, it awarded more than 3,000 scholarships; and
33	33	WHEREAS, The Ayers Foundation has been able to greatly expand its Ayers Scholars
34	34	Program as Governor Bill Lee and the General Assembly invested in the Ayers Foundation
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36	36
37	37	- 2 - 000097
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39	39	Trust to scale the program to seven additional counties in 2021 and an additional ten counties in
40	40	2023; and
41	41	WHEREAS, now serving students in all three Grand Divisions of the State of Tennessee,
42	42	The Ayers Foundation provides educational services to thirty-three high schools in twenty-one
43	43	counties; and
44	44	WHEREAS, in addition to helping young people get an education, The Ayers Foundation
45	45	provides support and works closely with Come Home Tennessee, the Ayers Entrepreneur
46	46	Center, Ayers Children's Medical Center in West Tennessee, Ayers Institute for Pre-Cancer
47	47	Detection at Vanderbilt, Ayers Institute for Learning and Innovation at Lipscomb University,
48	48	Janet Ayers Center at Belmont University, and The TRAIN Program-TN Rural Acceleration and
49	49	Innovation Network; and
50	50	WHEREAS, it is most fitting that we recognize this exemplary charitable endeavor on
51	51	this auspicious occasion; now, therefore,
52	52	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH
53	53	GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE HOUSE OF
54	54	REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, that we honor and commend The Ayers Foundation for
55	55	its twenty-five years of devoted service to the State of Tennessee, applauding its continuing
56	56	efforts to improve the quality of life for all Tennesseans.
57	57	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared
58	58	for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy and upon proper request made to
59	59	the appropriate clerk, the language appearing immediately following the State seal appear
60	60	without House or Senate designation.