A small radio station just outside of Knoxville was simply excited to score an interview with former UT Athletic Director Mike Hamilton. It didn’t matter the interview had very little to do with sports and more to do with a non-profit back in Nashville. You see, Aaron, the news director of WECO, knew nothing about Blood:Water, but by the end of the 15-minute interview he was hooked and wanted to know even more. Little did he know, he would be bombarded by Blood:Water staff within a few days as he and his adorable wife sat down to dinner…but I’ll explain that in a minute.A couple days later, Mike headed to Knoxville. He wasn’t in town for a big UT event or sports announcement. He was in town for Blood:Water’s annual Hope in the Dark benefitting our work in Africa. After his interview with WECO, Mike invited Aaron and his wife to attend the exclusive event. Ok, so back to the dinner.

Unknown to Aaron and his wife, they were seated amongst a swarm of Blood:Water staff. That’s when the story of how they got to the event began to unfold…. he had never heard of Blood:Water. Mike talked all about the work happening in Africa. Little Big town was performing at our event. Raised money for Africa. Had to find out more. All of us at Blood:Water hope the event was all Aaron had hoped it would be. It was for us. You see, we owe Knoxville a huge thank you. The home of the UT Vols continues to lead the way in contributions to Blood:Water and it was no different a week ago today. Last Tuesday, Knoxville raised more than $220,000 for our work in Africa.

So Knoxville, thank you. There is nothing more exciting than a city that takes on a mission and new people join a movement.

Together we will see the end of the HIV/AIDS and water crises.