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The Volunteer Ministry Center Presents
CARRY THE TORCH KNOXVILLE
Featuring Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer Prize Winner, and Best-Selling Author of Rough Sleepers
AND
Dr. Jim O’Connell, President of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Tracy Kidder
Tracy Kidder is an outstanding author whose best-selling works include House, Among Schoolchildren, Old Friends, Home Town, Mountains Beyond Mountains, Strength in What Remains, and The Soul of a New Machine, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. His most recent book, Rough Sleepers, is the powerful story of an inspiring doctor, Dr. Jim O’Connell, who helped create a program to care for Boston’s homeless community.
Dr. Jim O’Connell is the founding physician of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, which now serves over 10,000 homeless individuals and families each year in two hospital-based clinics and in 30 shelters and outreach sites and on the streets of Boston. He assisted in establishing the nation’s first medical respite program for homeless persons and designed and implemented the nation’s first computerized medical record for the homeless program. He has been featured on ABC’s Nightline, CBS Evening News, and in several feature-length documentaries.
Honorary Chairs Dr. Robert and Carney Ivy
James J. O’Connell, MD
Carry the Torch will begin with a Mission Fair at 10:00am. Agencies which provide housing, general assistance, medical, and behavioral health service throughout our community, along with VMC will present booths and interact with event attendees who are looking for volunteer opportunities. The luncheon will begin promptly at 11:45am in the ballroom of the Knoxville Convention Center
Thursday, October 24, 2024
Knoxville Convention Center
Mission Fair 10:00 am-11:30 am
Lunch and Program 11:45 am-1:00 pm
Book Signing 1:00 pm-2:00 pm
LIMITED RESERVE SEATING
Although Carry the Torch is a sponsored event, limited reserve seating is available at $125 per seat.
SPONSORS
Sponsorships are available. Please contact Mary Beth Ramey at (865) 524-3926 x229 or mramey@vmcinc.org for more information. You may also download a sponsorship packet HERE.
SILVER TORCHBEARER
Cornerstone Fund
Anonymous
Connie Steele
Neill Albers Townsend
Robert and Carney Ivy
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BRONZ TORCHBEARER
Nancy and Jim Friedrich
Emily and David Cox
David and Jeane Claire Jones
Tom McCarley and Denise Moretz
Dr. and Mrs. Frank White
Judy Hodge
Randy Gibson
Herb and Mary Berl
Church of the Good Samaritan
Susan Conway
Peter Keese
TORCHBEARER
Nancy Bowen
Marty Smith
Old Grey Cemetery
John and Kathy Buckingham
Jenny and William Eversole
Kenneth Miller and Associates
Mark Walker
First Presbyterian Church
Central Baptist Bearden
St. John's Lutheran
Harriet Hodge/Don and Flo Messer
St. John's Cathedral
David and Meg Arning
St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church
Fred Perkinson
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Immaculate Conception Church
Second Presbyterian Church
Stephanie Piper
