Angel Tree is a program in which paper angels list the name of a child in need, and each member of an organization like Trezevant chooses a paper angel that gives them the name of the child for whom they will purchase holiday gifts. Children make their wish lists for gifts so that they are sure to get items they both want and need during the holiday season.

“The response was tremendous from our employees and residents,” said Christopher Hui, director of food services at Trezevant and leader of Trezevant’s Angel Tree program. “They are very generous and kind-hearted people. Our goal was to make sure no child walked out of here without a gift, and we succeeded at that. This is not work for us, this is fun!”

Chyna Brown, 8, said she truly enjoyed the luncheon and receiving her gift.

“It’s starting off good for me,” she said of the holiday season. “I like getting to meet new people and having fun. (The Angel Tree program) is really helping us out.”

Kendra Moore, the executive director of the Ira Samelson Jr. Boys & Girls Club of Greater Memphis, said she and the other staff members at her branch were “very eager” to know if Trezevant wanted to participate in this year’s Angel Tree program and were delighted to find the participation amongst staff and residents had increased.

“We have very underprivileged children who are not able to receive gifts during the holidays,” Moore noted. “For Trezevant to do this for our kids is awesome.”

The Ira Samelson Jr. branch serves more than 800 children, while all six Boys & Girls Clubs in the Memphis area collectively serve a total of more than 7,000 youth between the ages of 6 and 18 each year by providing the fun experiences and critical guidance kids need to build bright futures.

Alan is a Managing Member of Crone & McEvoy, PLC specializing in Executive Employment Law. That his personal role is St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, speaks volumes about him. Seeking God both spiritually and rationally, St. Ignatius taught that because God can be found in our everyday work, all work is important.

Catholic Charities of West Tennessee is the social services arm of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis. It is one of the largest nonprofit, multi-social service providers in the Mid-south with special emphasis in the areas of homelessness, refugee resettlement and emergency services.

“We were blown away by the powerful message Ron Hall brought to us and how much it matched our mission to not only serve those in need but also to learn more about ourselves from them,” said David Jordan, executive director of Agape. “We are humbled by the lives we have been given the opportunity to serve with and want to provide for others the way the Lord has provided for us.”

The Hickory Ridge Mall was intentionally chosen as a host site for Heartlight this year as Hickory Hill is one of the three communities Agape is serving via Powerlines Community Network, in addition to its service in Whitehaven and Frayser/Raleigh. Powerlines works to bring mentoring, tutoring, parenting skills and other site-based services to communities in need to help provide the needed and desired resources for its residents and the communities in which they live.

This year, Agape served more than 10,000 people – from adoptive families to homeless, pregnant women to residents of the city’s most blighted ZIP codes. Heartlight raised more than $330,000 to continue Agape’s efforts. Mark George, chairman of IMC Companies, and his wife, Melinda, as well as Sharp & Robbins Construction, LLC served as top sponsors of this year’s event.

Nearly 1,000 people took part in Heartlight, which featured music performed by the Visible Music College students and by Tucson-based gospel-meets-soul band Soulfruit. Emcees were TV talk show host Loretta McNary and preaching minister at Sycamore View Church of Christ Josh Ross. Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell addressed attendees, vocalizing his support for the mission of Agape. Additionally, those in attendance viewed a video of U.S. Senator Bob Corker, congratulating Agape for being selected as a 2011 “Angel in Adoption” award recipient.

With offices in Memphis (111 Racine) and Jackson, TN, Agape Child & Family Services is a Christian-based organization which provides children and families with healthy homes in the regional area through community restoration, homeless services, mentoring, adoption, foster care, maternity services and counseling. Agape will serve more than 10,000 children, adults and families this year through its services. For more information on Agape Child & Family Services or to find out how you can become part of the effort to adopt, foster, mentor and support the children in our community, call 901.323.3600 or visit www.AgapeMeansLove.org.

Stevenson was born with a significantly shortened right leg for which he had two surgeries in 2001 and 2003. However, a portion of his leg required an amputation, which took place on Friday, November 4. Once he is healed, Stevenson will go to Atlanta, Georgia, for his prosthetic leg.

While in Memphis, Stevenson stayed with the family of Reverend Bobby Waddell of DeSoto Woods Baptist Church in Southaven, Miss. Stevenson speaks limited English – his primary language is Haitian Creole. Fortunately, while at Campbell Clinic, Father Eduardo Logiste – a Dominican priest serving St. Peter Catholic Church in downtown Memphis – speaks Haitian Creole and was available to translate.

Dr. Sawyer said it was an honor to take part in the healing of Stevenson.

“It was a privilege to be able to help this amazing young man on his journey of healing,” said Dr. Sawyer, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. “We were so pleased to be able to provide our services to help Stevenson lead an easier life.”

Celebrating over 100 years in business, Campbell Clinic is dedicated to providing patient care while continuing its role in teaching and research in orthopedic surgery. Campbell Clinic offers an After Hours Clinic, open from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Saturdays from 8 to 11 a.m. For more information on Campbell Clinic, call 901.759.3100 or visit www.campbellclinic.com.

Childspring International is a faith-based international children’s medical charity, providing medical care and opportunities for a better life to children around the world. Childspring aims to transform 5,000 kids’ lives by 2020, in the process becoming an international leader in facilitating medical care for children in need.

Jenny Turner Koltnow, Executive Director of the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation; David Jordan, Executive Director of Agape Child & Family Services; Lori Humber, Agape Volunteer Coordinator; Lionel Hollins, Grizzlies Head Coach; Chris Wallace, Grizzlies General Manager & Vice-President of Basketball Operations; Elliot Perry, Former U of M and Grizzlies Player and Vice President of the Grizzlies Foundation Board of Directors; and Pete Pranica, Grizzlies TV Announcer and Board Member of the Grizzlies Foundation were on hand to celebrate this donation that is aligned with the Memphis Grizzlies TEAM UP Youth Mentoring initiative.

Agape Child & Family Services is a Christian-based organization that provides children and families with healthy homes in the regional area through community restoration, homeless services, mentoring, foster care, adoption, maternity services and counseling.

This weekend, October 21 – 23, Memphis will hold its first GiveCamp at Emerge Memphis in Downtown’s South Main area.

How does it work?

Technology professionals — graphic designers, software developers, database administrators, marketers and web strategists will volunteer their time to provide solutions for nonprofit organizations, who do vital work for the common good, but lack the resources, personnel and expertise to do it efficiently and to best use the latest technology.

GiveCamp will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 21 with sign-in and introductions. We’ll get down to coding at about 7:00 p.m. and stop when the caffeine runs out. Saturday will begin with breakfast and coffee and we’ll work into the evening as needed. On Sunday, there will be a 2:00 p.m. code freeze, after which we’ll finalize deployments and prepare to present our work to the public at 5:00 p.m.

Registration is still open and we have a few available slots for both charities and volunteers, as we believe we have the bandwidth to complete additional projects. Please note that this may be a solid 48-hour commitment for some project teams.

The event is organized by Brian Swanson, IT consultant and owner of Purple Ant, a Memphis-based software and web development company and Adam Robertson, lead recruiter for the Memphis branch of Robert Half Technology.

If you’ve got tech skills, this is a great way to give back to the community — and it’ll be fun. If you’re a nonprofit and need technology-related help, register and we’ll find a team to help you.

Here’s how you can get involved:

• I want to volunteer.
• I’m a nonprofit — help me!
• Follow GiveCamp on Twitter

While the time and place may not fit into your work day, please note the array of speakers. And a longer series could have included even more local variety from Buddhists to Baha’i to Coptics and more.

Oh and speaking of diversity, please mark your calendar for our region’s most diverse and fun festival the Mid-South Music & Heritage Festival put on by the Center for Southern Folklore Sept. 3-4. It’s downtown and its free – two of my favorite things.

While you’re at it, next time you are on Facebook, you might look at — and please  ”like”  – the Greater Memphis Diversity Collaborative.

Agape’s FIT Program serves homeless, pregnant women and their children by providing housing and job skills training while reconnecting them with their family and other important relationships.

The Exchange Club Family Center’s First S.T.E.P.S. program is a comprehensive teen parenting and life-skills program for first-time teen parents between the ages of 12 and 19. The program provides in-home visitations for one year and addresses pre-natal care, parenting, family planning, job readiness, anger management and other life skills required for these teen parents to provide for themselves and their infants, prevent child abuse and reduce juvenile delinquency.

Nearly 100 Hilton Team Members, as well as representatives from Agape and The Exchange Club Family Center, gathered in the atrium of Hilton’s Building A, which was decorated with stacks of colorful diapers, cupcakes and signs. Phil Cordell, global head of focused service brands for Hilton Worldwide, welcomed everyone and interviewed company leaders Scott Schrank, who was dressed as a duck (in lieu of a stork), and Adrian Kurre, who was in a baby costume, about the importance of donating diapers and formula or funds for these items.

“We want to show the community how much Hilton Worldwide Team Members care about those in need,” Cordell said. “Agencies like Agape and The Exchange Club Family Center serve the populations that we wish to reach, and we are very enthusiastic about assisting in this capacity.”

Cordell noted that there is a special incentive grand prize for Team Members who donate diapers and/or cash for formula – a five-night stay at a Hilton Grand Vacation Resort in Orlando, Fl., plus airfare for four. The drawing will be held on May 31. Additionally, the giant “diaper cake” that was displayed at Wednesday’s event will be given away to one of the moms in Agape’s FIT Program or in the Exchange Club’s First S.T.E.P.S. teen parenting program.

David Jordan, executive director of Agape, and Barbara King, executive director of The Exchange Club Family Center, expressed their gratitude to everyone at Hilton Worldwide who has worked so hard to make this drive possible.

“Hilton Worldwide’s dedication to our mission and that of The Exchange Club Family Center is apparent by the tremendous amount of effort and time they have put into this Diaper Drive,” Jordan said. “We are so pleased to be witnessing this generous act of kindness towards mothers who desperately need assistance with their babies. Everyone at Agape and at The Exchange Club Family Center is so grateful to the team at Hilton Worldwide.”

Agape is the only agency in Memphis exclusively serving the population of homeless, pregnant women long-term. Due to the need of this population, Agape nearly tripled the serving capacity of the FIT program from 15 to 44 families from 2009 to 2010. During their time at the FIT campus, residents are required to save 30 percent of their income. For the past 3 years, FIT has achieved a 90 percent success rate for the previously homeless women leaving the program and entering into their own permanent home.

Other organizations are doing similar diaper drives: Harding Academy’s National Honor Society recently donated more than 80 packages of diapers to Agape’s FIT Program, and the First Tennessee Women’s Initiative also donated a multitude of packaged diapers, as well. The University of Memphis American Humanics Association, St John’s Episcopal Church and the Western Tennessee Region 4-H All Stars have also donated a variety of diapers, diaper bags and formula to The Exchange Club Family Center’s First S.T.E.P.S. program.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Friends were so moved by Timothy’s dream that they decided to help see it through. A memorial fund was begun, and Jerry and Fern Hill adopted their son’s dream. 29 years later, the Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch has provided a loving home to hundreds of children during a desperate time of crisis.

If you want to laugh for a great cause, come on out to the Highland Church of Christ this Friday evening, May 6, at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $25 at www.highlandcc.org. 100% of the evening’s proceeds will benefit the Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch as it serves abused, neglected, and homeless children. Highland is located at 400 N Houston Levee Rd. in Cordova.

With offices in Memphis (111 Racine) and Jackson, TN, Agape Child & Family Services is a Christian-based organization which provides children and families with healthy homes in the regional area through community restoration, homeless services, mentoring, foster care, adoption, maternity services and counseling. Agape will serve more than 18,000 children, adults and families this year through its services. For more information on Agape Child & Family Services or to find out how you can become part of the effort to adopt, foster, mentor and support the children in our community, call 901.323.3600 or visit www.AgapeMeansLove.org.