Release from Tennessee American Water:

Rossville, GA – Tennessee American Water announces that a $20,000 grant has been awarded to the Top of Georgia, in partnership with the Rossville ReDev Workshop.  The grant will fund the John Ross Commons park and pond improvements and create an outdoor eco learning lab in Rossville.  The grant is funded by the American Water Charitable Foundation through its new Keep Communities Flowing Grant Program.

“Tennessee American Water is excited to continue working with Rossville citizens and city officials on the Rossville Commons,” said Darlene Williams, President of Tennessee American Water. “Since community leaders shared their vision in 2017 for transforming the historical duck pond and park, we have been on board, helping in a number of different ways.”

Tennessee American Water contributions have included employees joining Rossville residents to plant the new landscape, the installation of a main in 2017 so the transformed park would have irrigation and an environmental grant award to support the watershed protection efforts of the natural spring.

“We are grateful to the American Water Charitable Foundation, and Tennessee American Water, for being selected for this very generous grant,” said Rossville ReDev Workshop co-founder Elizabeth Wells. “Tennessee American Water has been a tremendous partner on the rehab of the John Ross Commons from the onset. We believe this new grant will be the exclamation point on this public space that means so much to the citizens of Rossville.”

In addition to the community-based group Rossville ReDev Workshop and the City of Rossville, other partners include the Top of Georgia economic development organization and Georgia State Senator Jeff Mullis.  John Ross Commons serves as an economic driver, quality of life enhancer, and point of pride for a community that is ready to revitalize. The space is also the foundation for a safe outdoor location which area schools will be able to utilize for educational programing and events.

“Our ongoing partnership with ReDev Workshop is helping to bring Rossville back one project at a time. This is an exciting time for Rossville and its citizens,” said Rossville Mayor Teddy Harris.  “We couldn’t do it without the support of our partners and their generous support through donations, time and talent.”

In its inaugural year, the American Water Charitable Foundation’s Keep Communities Flowing Grant Program provided 11 grants, up to $20,000 each, to support 501(c)(3) organizations, programs and projects that connected to one or more of American Water’s core focus areas of Water and the Environment, Water and Healthy Living, Environmental Education, and Community Sustainability.