Gov. Bill Lee, First Lady Maria Lee Host Carnival Celebration for Kids Service Challenge Participants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 6, 2025

Gov. Bill Lee, First Lady Maria Lee Host Carnival Celebration for Kids Service Challenge Participants

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Today, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and First Lady Maria Lee welcomed more than 100 families from across the state to the Tennessee Residence for a carnival celebrating their completion of the Tennessee Kids Serve Summer Challenge.

“Bill and I were excited to celebrate another meaningful and impactful Tennessee Kids Serve Summer Challenge with students at the Tennessee Kids Serve Carnival,” said First Lady Maria Lee. “We were encouraged to learn firsthand how kids served in their communities this summer, but even more so, we were touched to hear the positive impact the challenge had on each participating family.”

The Governor and First Lady met with summer challenge participants and their families to congratulate each child on their summer of service and encourage them to continue serving others. The event also included carnival games, prizes, snacks, special appearances from local sports team mascots, and remarks from the Governor and First Lady.

This year marked the seventh annual Tennessee Kids Serve Summer Challenge as a part of the First Lady’s Tennessee Serves initiative. The challenge invited Tennessee elementary students to devote a portion of their summer to serving others.

More than 700 students participated in the challenge and served a record-breaking number of 3,654 hours in 57 counties.

To complete the challenge, rising kindergarten through sixth grade students completed a service activity in at least two of the eight provided categories and served a minimum of two hours.

This summer, Tennessee kids served their communities in a variety of ways including:

– Cleaning public parks

– Delivering flowers to local nursing homes

– Taking baked goods and letters of appreciation to first responders

– Hosting lemonade stands to raise funds for disaster relief

– Placing flags and flowers at Veterans cemeteries

– Donating books to little free library

– Volunteering at local food pantry

– Making and passing out blessing bags to homeless individuals

Since 2019, 4,561 Tennessee students have served a combined 15,291 hours in communities across the state through the summer challenge.

Find out more about the First Lady’s initiative, Tennessee Serves, here.