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