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CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings and Catholic Charities Join Forces

March 11, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, MS --- The Mississippi RiverKings will get a little divine inspiration when supporters of Catholic Charities of West Tennessee come to the RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ Mar. 19 game.

The group will be raising funds for its St. Peter Ministries, with up to $10 of every $16 ticket supporting the "Fig Tree" program (food, clothing, utility assistance, prescription assistance, eye exam assistance, and "Gifts for God ‚¬â„¢s Children," a Christmas gifts program for the needy and elderly). As the family services arm of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis, Catholic Charities of West Tennessee is one of the largest nonprofit, multi-social service providers in the Mid-south, serving people of all ages and from all walks of life.

"Catholic Charities of West Tennessee serves the most vulnerable in our community, the homeless that are homeless due to domestic violence, addiction and mental illness, refugees that are fleeing persecution, children and others suffering from poverty," Executive Director Carolyn Tisdale said.

"We provide a safety net of emergency services such as food, clothing, assistance with utilities and medical needs to keep people from crashing when an emergency arises. And our services give people an opportunity to rebuild lives. Our mission is to emulate the teaching of Jesus Christ by providing excellence in human services to the vulnerable among us. It is incredibly rewarding, because we can see the changes our services make in the lives of the people we serve."

Catholic Charities of West Tennessee was incorporated in 1970 with the establishment of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis. Tisdale has been employed at the agency for 24 years, and has served as the executive director since 2008.

"There are many rewarding moments in my job: Meeting families that we helped during the Katarina evacuation that have made Memphis their home, or seeing women that arrived at Sophia House with no education or work experience graduate from college and move into a professional career and home ownership, to name a few," Tisdale said.

Catholic Charities promotes giving back to the community among its clients. Each of its residential treatment facilities has a volunteer component that encourages the residents to give back through volunteer services to the community. The organization also partners with other services providers to meet the needs of the community.

"We make an effort to expose the people we serve to community resources and events so they can maintain the changes in their lives," Tisdale said.

Catholic Charities of West Tennessee encompasses a wide variety of services, from Extended Child Care Services (after-school programs and summer camps) and Homeless Services (residential treatment/service for mental illness, addiction, and/or domestic violence). All the Homeless Services programs offer employment services and assistance with developing permanent housing.

Catholic Charities ‚¬â„¢ St. Peter Ministries includes not only Fig Tree emergency services, but also counseling and adoption services, but also Parish Social Ministry; Refugee & lmmigration Services; and The Jackson Deanery Development Committee, which provides grants to parishes and organizations in 20 rural West Tennessee counties for ecumenical community projects.

"Catholic Charities cannot exist without community involvement and volunteers to serve as mentors to new refugee arrivals and to men and women that have been homeless; volunteers to staff the food pantry and clothes closet, pick up donations and assist in setting up apartments for new arrivals; volunteers to coordinate community participation and assist with fundraising; donations of furniture, household items, food and clothing; and donations of money and gift cards to support Gifts for God ‚¬â„¢s People, the Christmas Program that provides gifts to needy families at Christmas, funds to assist with medical needs, utility bills and prescriptions for the elderly and disabled in emergency situations," Tisdale said.

To purchase tickets or for more information on Catholic Charities of West Tennessee, call 901.722.4700, visit their website at www.ccwtn.org or check out their Facebook page or YouTube channel.

The Mississippi RiverKings are supported by their community partners, season ticket holders, fans, and by program-related investments of the Maddox Foundation, an independent private foundation based in Hernando, Miss. To find out more about the RiverKings, call 662.342.1755 or visit www.riverkings.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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