Many of you may have seen or heard about the unfortunate situation of members of our church, the Mary Cate Jones family and their potential eviction from their home. First Baptist has been in touch with the family and has agreed to accept donations on their behalf through our church’s non-profit organization, The Heart of Knoxville, Inc.

Checks should be made out to The Heart of Knoxville, Inc., and mailed to:

The Heart of Knoxville, Inc.
510 W Main St
Knoxville, TN 37902

Please include in the memo line: Jones Family.

Read more about the Jones family in these stories on the Knoxville News-Sentinel website:

Woman, 78, about to lose place she’s called home for 56 years

Public responds to Strawberry Plains widow facing eviction; brief reprieve given on forced move

Widow, 78, spared immediate eviction; offers of help pour in from public

Heart of Knoxville Partners with Kohl’s for FBC Youth Ministry Angel Tree 

The Heart of Knoxville is the church’s non-profit organization designed to partner with the businesses, corporations, family foundations, and individuals who want to expand the church’s resources for ministry. FBC does not solicit funds that would normally go to budget giving, and does not receive money from government grants. It does however, work with people who would normally not be able to contribute directly to a church, but want to partner with us for a good cause through a non-profit organization.

In December, our students purchased gifts for South Knoxville families for Christmas. Through a partnership with the Heart of Knoxville, Kohl’s donated $500 to the cause and allowed the students to provide even more gifts for needy families. Kohl’s has an employee-assistance grant, in which Kohl’s employees direct funds to causes for which they volunteer. One of our church members used the program to assist our youth ministry in giving to those in need. We are grateful to Michael McEntyre, the youth ministry, and Kohl’s for this gift.

If your company has a similar program to Kohl’s, or an employee-match program for charitable contributions, and you would like those contributions to go to our mission, contact board chair Jon Roach or the church office about partnering with the Heart of Knoxville.

A new 501(c)3

As a way to increase our ministry to the downtown community, First Baptist has established a new non-profit called The Heart of Knoxville.  The Heart of Knoxville was created for the expressed purpose of meeting human needs.

This new non-profit will allow us to increase our capacity to meet needs by pursuing grants from private foundations.  Heart of Knoxville will not accept public funds.  The Board of Directors will be made up of First Baptist members.  They will serve for a 3 year term and will be appointed by the nominating committee.

If you are wondering why we need a nonprofit, last year’s Christmas Brunch is a good example.  Before the Brunch, the Brunch Coordinators tried to get donations of socks and under from companies like Jockey and Goody’s, but we found that companies are not willing to donate items to a church, least they been seen as showing favoritism.

The Heart of Knoxville will allow us to approach these businesses and apply for grants and ask for in-kind donations.   The Heart of Knoxville and First Baptist will work hand in hand to minster in the community.