Sunday, November 5, 2017
6 p.m.
701 Henley Street, Knoxville, TN 37902
Knoxville Convention Center
EVENT DETAILS
The Signature Chefs Auction Knoxville brings together top local chefs showcasing their culinary masterpieces, entertainment and a lively auction featuring one-of-a-kind packages, and you’ve got a perfect recipe for a Signature Chefs Auction event. For over 25 years, this event helped raise important dollars for the March of Dimes, pays tribute to the culinary excellence of local chefs and caterers in Middle Tennessee and geared towards people who enjoy fine dining, fine wine, auctions and entertainment.
SUPPORT THE MISSION
Every year, 15 million babies are born prematurely worldwide, and 1 million will die before their first birthday. Your gift helps the March of Dimes fund research, education, advocacy and programs that help more moms have full-term pregnancies and healthy babies.
BECOME A SPONSOR
Through partnerships with companies, organizations and individuals, the March of Dimes is able to create unique moments for your clients, vendors and leadership teams. They participate in an exclusive dining event while supporting a critical cause. Sponsorship opportunities are available at a variety of levels for our Signature Chefs events, providing you with brand recognition, civic engagement and an exclusive client entertainment opportunity within the event. We look forward to working with you to discuss your partnership with the March of Dimes. For more information, please contact Becky Hilton at (865) 622-9121.
Event Chair, Chesney Anderson
Born and raised in Knoxville and a University of Tennessee almuni, I am proud of my volunteer state and the people that serve with a volunteer’s heart. Growing up, my family would participate in distribution day at the Empty Stocking Fund, sign-up for Turkey Trots and choose presents for children on the Angel Tree. I knew it was good to drop coins into the Salvation Army buckets and purge out of season clothes to Goodwill. But it wasn’t until I delivered our little boy that I understood the impact the March of Dimes would have one me. He was born six weeks early, survived two abdominal surgeries and remained in the NICU for the first 80 days of his life. We could only rely on medical professionals’ experience and knowledge and the neonatal nursing staff’s willingness to learn our child’s unique needs. Money nor donations or kind words could fix our son. It was happening to us, and to be honest, no one knew enough. They could not detect exactly what our son was faced with by ultrasound in utero. The surgeon did not know what he would find when he explored my son’s belly hours after he was born. Our nurses did not know the best way to care for stomas on such a small baby. There was not enough examples, research or tools to diagnose and treat him without lots of trial and error. It was a humbling experience, and all we wanted was to put it in the past.
He healed, and soon life got back to normal. It would be easy to send thank you cards to the people that helped us and move on with our healthy infant. However, there are nearly 200 babies born prematurely each week in Tennessee largely for reasons we do not fully understand to families just like ours. We don’t have the option to put our experience behind us as it could happen to any one of our friends or family…and statistics state it will likely affect someone we know. March of Dimes is leading the effort to fund research to understand and prevent preterm birth, and we feel charged to serve them with that same volunteer’s heart that my home state boasts. We ask that you help fund their mission to give babies like our son a fighting chance.
View our updated event acknowledgements and waivers here.