Covenant Health’s Knoxville Marathon is providing a new way to support fledgling healthy living programs.
The organization put out a call for applications Thursday for a new grant program it is offering to nonprofits.
“We’ve done the marathon for 10 years,” said race director Jason Altman. “After the first couple of years, it became profitable, and we wanted to give back to the community.
“We’ve always supported projects, but we never opened it up to the general public before.”
Eligible applicants for the grant include nonprofits with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status that are located in the following counties: Knox, Anderson, Blount, Claiborne, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Loudon, Roane, Union and Sevier.
“It’s limited to certain counties because that’s where most of our marathon participants are from,” Altman said.
Proposals may be made for up to $10,000, and multiple recipients could be selected. The deadline is July 31. The money will be awarded by the end of September, Altman said.
“We wanted to give people six weeks to apply. That would give us the months of August and September to scrutinize over the applications,” he said.
Altman said projects that target healthy living practices, healthy eating habits and active lifestyles will be selected.
The grant will be funded from proceeds from the marathon, which include registration fees and sponsor revenue. The proceeds also support the Knoxville Track Club’s youth athletic program and Covenant Health’s Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center Innovative Recreation Cooperative.
Altman said the hope is to offer the grant program in years to come if the marathon has continued participation and support.
“As long as we have key participants and key sponsors, we want to continue this. That’s the key to drive it.”