Staff Anniversaries - February 2024
It would be impossible to overstate how valuable our staff is in pursuing our mission to serve Knoxville’s urban youth. Whether staff members are directly involved with youth through discipleship, coaching, tutoring, etc. or are a part of the support staff that equips them, each member has God-given talents and passion that make our organization fruitful. It is our desire to celebrate them and, in the process, let you get to know them a little better. So, stop by our blog each month to see the latest anniversaries and get to know the folks who are the hands and feet of our work in knoxville’s city neighborhoods!
Rich Carnes
Rich Carnes - 5 years
It’s all about God’s timing for Rich Carnes. Having crossed paths with Emerald Youth Foundation before, he was eager to work with us when the opportunity came. Rich’s breadth of experience, especially in human resources coincided with Emerald’s need. In Exodus 17:10, a man named Hur stood beside Moses, literally supporting him as the leader of the Israelites. Hur had a front-row seat to the miraculous things God was doing for His people through Moses, and that is who Rich identifies with when he thinks of his time at Emerald. He gets to be the man with a front-row seat watching, helping and supporting the men and women God is using to do miraculous things for His people.
Kyle Hale - 18 years
Kyle Hale
Kyle Hale’s job at Emerald was an answer to prayer. Kyle and his wife were praying for an alternative to the very demanding job he had in South Florida. When that company sold and his job ended, they moved to Knoxville to work in the boat building industry. The Lord had something better though and directed him to Emerald which protected him from the “Great Recession,” and its impact on the boat industry. His 18 years with Emerald are full of great memories, but one crazy one that sticks out was his adventure “playing tag” unintentionally with another member of Emerald’s staff at Cades Cove. Kyle drove the bus in to the Cades Cove Loop to rescue students and faculty on an Emerald field trip when their van broke down at the Abrams Falls trailhead. The leader of the group, not knowing that Kyle was coming, had decided to run to the nearest ranger station for help. By the time he hitchhiked back to the van, Kyle had picked up the kids and headed to the ranger station for him. Missing him at the ranger station though sent Kyle back to the trailhead only to find that the staff member had been there and taken off again, back to the ranger station. They did the loop three times before they found each other!
Shara Shoup
Shara Shoup - 20 years
Shara Shoup volunteered at Emerald Youth Foundation while in grad school but did not return as a full-time employee for several years. She was on a spiritual retreat when she felt God’s call to return and serve just as Emerald was in a time of growth – reaching more youth in more neighborhoods and offering new programming at the same time. She says that it was “a beautiful blend for me of drawing on my time serving directly with kids and families while helping figure out how best to provide different high-quality activities across the city and the resources and operations needed to do it.” Shara has loved her time at Emerald and been so blessed by the joy on kids’ faces at Emerald sporting events, celebrations, or camps. “When they excitedly talk about an experience that was completely new for them, or when they are vulnerably sharing how much a staff member or volunteer has meant to them, I secretly have to swallow hard, dab a tear or two, and hope no one noticed!”
Kevin Sparks
Kevin Sparks - 3 years
Kevin Sparks had been a long-time fan of Emerald Youth Foundation and shared a passion for youth ministry and youth sports. He knew the ministry through his friendship with Dwayne Sanders, former Urban Director for FCA Knoxville and Emerald Youth’s Sports Director, and connected with fellow Karns High School grad, Steve Diggs, Emerald’s president and CEO. Kevin was presented with an opportunity to join Emerald and was initially hesitant, because he loved his current company. As he prayed about it, however, he could see that God was calling him to use his “skills and experience in a way to serve Him.” As the VP of Finance, Kevin uniquely serves the ministry behind-the-scenes, and makes a point to connect with young people face to face. Recently, he spent time “playing basketball, running races, and just goofing around with the kids” in Lonsdale at Haslam-Sansom Ministry Complex. He is grateful for those times engaging with kids and, as he puts it, “grateful that, at my advanced age, I didn’t suffer any permanent injuries!”
Orlanda Wells
Orlanda Wells - 4 years
Orlanda Wells believes that God brought him to Emerald Youth so that he can “encourage and pour into the next generation of world changers.” He loves having the opportunity to be a consistent voice of support and hope for the youth he serves. He knew what he wanted to spend his life doing when he walked his first student, who had been registered homeless in high school, into his new residence hall at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Orlanda says, “Seeing that smile that he had, knowing that his future was brighter than his past, completely changed my life.”
Sam Wright
Sam Wright - 8 years
Sam Wright was relocating to Tennessee and needed a job. He received several offers, but none of them seemed right at the time. He turned them down, believing and trusting that God had “another option on the horizon.” That’s when he received a call to meet and discuss a job with Emerald Youth Foundation. Sam felt that this position would be one where God could use him for His purposes and where he himself could grow. While he has enjoyed glimpses of the fruit God has him to plant and grow in kids’ lives, it is a memory a staff retreat that was the most fun. It was a paintball game at Eagle Rock Camp in the Smokies. “It was a lot of fun to shoot paintballs at my boss and coworkers. How often does an opportunity like that come along!?”