As the holiday season approaches, many organizations will begin their campaigns to raise both awareness and money towards their causes. One local organization, however, has been a part of the community for 73 years, and wants to remind Carter County the need to support their own brothers and sisters.

In 2004, East Tennessee Christian Home and Academy decided to no longer receive funding from the state of Tennessee, after a dispute over the religious nature of their institution.

Director of Development Ron Marvel said they created the Give Thanks campaign in order to raise the necessary funds to remain open in place of state funding.

“The state tried to dictate the spiritual part of our program,” Marvel said. “That is a large part of who we are.”

The fundraising campaign has been an annual part of the academy for over 20 years, even before they stopped receiving money from the state.

“It helps us serve the children and families of Carter County,” he said.

Marvel said the academy takes in children who cannot remain in their homes, whether it is from abuse and neglect or other limiting factors.

The children remain in the academy until they reconcile with their families or until they graduate.

“All of our girls are from east Tennessee,” Marvel said.

The Give Thanks campaign involves sending out thousands of letters to families all over the academy.

“It takes the better part of a week to get the letters out,” Marvel said. “Many organizations outsource that, but we mail them out ourselves.”

Many of the letters go to previous donors or other related families.

Marvel and his wife Melissa have been jointly running the campaign for roughly 27 years.

“Without these funds, this ministry would not exist,’ he said.

The campaign also reaches out to local businesses and organizations to host events alongside the academy, and Marvel said if businesses want them to visit their workplaces and give presentations on donating, they would welcome it.

“It reminds people we are here,’ he said. “We are still striving to do God’s will as we serve the community.”

He said this year’s campaign has an extra item in the envelopes they sent out last week. One of the girls in the academy drew a small sketch highlighting the benefits of donating to the academy.

For those who want to participate in the campaign, Marvel said to go to their website, www.etcha.org, for more information.

“It was time-consuming getting those letters out, but it was worth it,” he said. “We were founded by Carter County folks, and we exist to work with and help families in the Carter County area.”