By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



A local charitable foundation is again turning to music to help raise funds for its cause.

Gardendale-based Just Keep Smiling provides gas vouchers, buys food, pays utility bills and living expenses for families with critical care children. The group will hold its third fundraising concert on Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at Gardendale First Baptist Church.

The event is free, but the foundation will take up a love offering to further its mission.

Dubbed “A Night of Praise and Worship,” the concert will feature soloists George Weeks, Jodi Dial, Charlotte Guffin, Faith Harper, Rich Valenta, Ted Cook, Jason Hallmark, Jim Clark, Shelly Burkett and Karen Allen. The soloists will also be backed by the church’s orchestra and choir at the event.

“The last two years, we brought in groups, but people have said how much they’d like to hear the Gardendale First Baptist] choir and orchestra,” said Just Keep Smiling founder Sue Jeffreys. “We’re trying to get a little better every year and we thought this was a great opportunity.”

Jeffreys said the event isn’t just about raising money for the foundation, but also giving praise to God for His blessings on the group. She said it also provides a means to thank the community for its support.

The four-year old group has helped well over 300 families by Jeffreys’ estimation, including a young boy from Dothan in need of a heart transplant.

The transplant team at UAB Hospital would not put the boy on a waiting list because his family did not live close enough to the hospital. Just Keep Smiling was able to secure a house for the family and then find public housing in Hanceville to allow the patient to be added to the transplant list.

Just Keep Smiling was also recently awarded a $10,000 grant from UAB to help offset some of the costs for the all volunteer organization. Jeffreys said “99.9 percent” of every penny the group receives goes to help families.

“Our main goal is to be there for the families and provide payments for them so they can stay at the hospital with their child,” Jeffreys said. “The number of those we help is increasing every year.”