KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Thousands of people in Knoxville will volunteer Friday as part of the city's annual service day KnoxGives.
Knoxville officials said it involves 75 different nonprofits and a goal of 2,500 volunteers -- all working together for 10,000 service hours in one day.
The city said nonprofits in youth services, homelessness and food insecurity, animal welfare, environmental protection and historic preservation are participating in KnoxGives.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said people in Knox County are proud of their communities -- and that pride shows in KnoxGives.
“The amount of pride our residents have for our community is incredible,” Jacobs said. “To have some of our largest corporations along with so many community groups making it a priority to improve... it is a testament to our volunteer spirit.”
The event's presenting sponsor, Pilot Flying J, said it will deploy more than 350 employee volunteers -- and they'll be backed by volunteer teams from other companies, city and county government and people from all over Knoxville.
In a statement, Rogero said KnoxGives is both a day of service and a message.
“KnoxGives will make a powerful statement: Look at the tremendous volume of good we can do in just one day when we all pull together and focus our energy on meeting specific challenges," Rogero said.