Enjoy this recording of the conversation between John Seigenthaler, and Eric Motley. To view images from the event scroll to the bottom of the page.
On October 5, 160 partners gathered for South Cumberland Community Fund’s annual dinner, which raised over $80,000 to support the work of community building on the South Cumberland Plateau. The event also marked the celebration of the 2024 “Connect for Lasting Impact” grant awards to collaborating partners:
Folks @ Home with the St. Mark’s Community Association and St. James Episcopal Church to provide transportation to people in the Greater Sewanee area.
The Tracy City Free Medical Clinic and its partner, the Town of Tracy City, to build out a new and expanded facility for the free clinic.
Beersheba Springs Medical Clinic and the Grundy County jail to provide dental care for inmates.
The evening’s program was presented as a dialogue between the noted journalist, John Seigenthaler, and Eric Motley, a public intellectual, former staff member in the George W. Bush White House, and Deputy Director of the National Gallery of Art. Seigenthaler and Motley discussed the community in which Motley had grown up, which he memorialized in a book entitled Madison Park: A Place of Hope
Motley’s youth was shaped by a loving community and loving grandparents who nurtured his spiritual and intellectual development. Madison Park, founded by freed enslaved people, who purchased the plantation that became their community, was also founded on a shared understanding of the mutual aid people in the community would provide each other. Motley’s youth was an ideal expression of this commitment.
At the end of the presentation, Motley rose to deliver a quotation from Reinhold Niebuhr, which encapsulates his view of community.
Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.” ― Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History
We are grateful to all who attended and to the event sponsor, Tower Community Bank. We are also deeply grateful to event patrons and table hosts, who both provided foundational funding and brought new partners to our work.
Patrons
Dot Neale and Doug Ferris
Sheri and Mark Lawrence
Phoebe and Robert Pearigen
Table Hosts
Laurence Alvarez
Mary and Nick Babson
Nancy and Rhea Bowden
Laurie and Jay Fisher
Tan and John Hille
Martha and Eddie Krenson
Lee and Tom Limbird
Marguerite Lloyd
Lodge Manufacturing Company
June and Joe Mays
Merissa Tobler and Jim Peterman
Margaret Woods
Stephanie and Scott Wright
Ruth Patterson and Rich Wyckoff
The evening could not have happened without the dedicated work of volunteers Sydney Shipps, Katie Oliver, and Sheri Lawrence. Music was provided by Emily Ricks and Cara Kitzrow.
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