Local gala Sept. 10 looks to help children in foster care system
The Saturday, Sept. 10, event will start at 6 p.m. and feature hit singer and Bearden High School graduate Chris Blue in West Knoxville’s Bridgewater Place.
Tickets start at $100 for individuals. Opportunities exist for a variety of sponsorship levels.
While this will be the first year for the Gala, the event is being held in tandem with the organization’s annual Atlanta Braves Alumni Golf Tournament, which begins with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 12, at Egwani Farms Golf Course.
The golf tournament benefits both Fostering Hope and the Atlanta Braves Alumni Association, and will feature players including former Braves World Series championship pitcher Greg McMichael, a Webb School of Knoxville graduate who also is Allen’s son.
Cost for the tourney is $125 per person. Registration and fees must be in by Monday, Sept. 5, by e-mailing em@egwanifarmsgolf.com.
Fostering Hope TN began in 2013 when Hensley, then a social worker in Boston, encountered a foster child who carried all her belongings in a trash bag.
“She felt worthless,” Hensley recalled. “As a social worker, I wondered what could I do?”
She mentioned the situation to her grandparents, also including Sylvia McMichael, with whom she had always been close, having lived with them for a time when her parents were missionaries.
“We wondered what we could do, as a family, to help,” Allen said.
Between them, the idea of a suitcase drive was born. “We had 100 suitcases donated that first year,” Allen said.
Since that time, they have moved on to donating only new suitcases to needy foster children. And the organization helps in many other ways, too, such as providing gas cards, pack and plays, car seats, backpacks filled with personal supplies and school needs and blankets.
Fostering Hope TN works with many other local organizations, including Compassion Closet and Isaiah 117 House to help provide the needs for an estimated 800 foster children in Knox County at any given time.
“No one organization can help everybody, so we all work together to take care of Knox County,” said Hensley, who has left social work professionally as she raises nine adopted children with her husband, Matt Hensley, in their Farragut home.
For more information, or to reserve tickets for the Gala, visit fosteringhopetn.com.
