Criminon Tennessee Participating in the Big Payback

The Big Payback is a 24-hour online giving event, highlighting the great work of Middle Tennessee nonprofits and inspiring community-wide giving, according to thebigpayback.org. Starting at midnight on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, donors have 24 hours to make gifts online at www.TheBigPayback.org to 770 participating nonprofits, including schools and religious institutions, which are located in or provide services in the 40 counties of Middle Tennessee.

This year, Criminon Tennessee is participating in this online gift giving effort. Criminon Tennessee has been in operation since 2014, when it graduated its first class from the Criminal Justice Center (CJC) Correctional Facility in the heart of downtown Nashville. The Director of Criminon Tennessee, Tracy Fesler, was proud to talk about the progress her students make during their time in the program. “Some of these guys get in trouble because of a momentary upset—one thing sets them off and they make a serious mistake that puts them on track for years of self invalidation and degradation,” says Fesler. “We help restore their self-respect so they can become a contributing member of society and begin making up for damage they have done.”

The Criminon program is an evidence-based intervention that creates safer communities through its education curricula for offenders.  Criminon means “without crime,” and Criminon Tennessee is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. According to criminontn.org, “[Criminon International] is the management body for the network of Criminon chapters and offices in over 20 countries that services over 11,000 offenders weekly.”

The fundamental principle that underlies the Criminon approach in methodology is the restoration of the individual’s self-respect and common sense values to avoid relapse into antisocial patterns of behavior.

During The Big Payback, gifts from the public are boosted with funds from sponsors. Nonprofits vie for financial incentives, bonus donations and additional prizes totaling more than $240,000 on the online leaderboard, which will track donations in real time. Contribute to Criminon Tennessee by visiting www.TheBigPayback.org, search for Criminon Tennessee, and complete the easy and secure donation form.