On May 15, 2025, United4Hope was able to host around 100 people for our annual Year-End celebration. This event has been a yearly tradition to honor the amazing partnerships we have in United4Hope across our churches and schools in the Greater Nashville and Franklin areas. We were joined by the full Operation Andrew Group team, along with pastors, coordinators, principals, school liaisons, and other community partners.  

 

The theme this year for our Year-End Celebration was “Growing Hope”, which was selected by our United4Hope Team to commemorate the thousands of seeds planted this year by every person within our United4Hope network. As we have seen from our 178 partner churches and 84 partner schools, hope is blooming all around us as we aim to feed, nurture and strengthen Middle Tennessee. God is blessing the work and continues to lead us onward through the four pillars of student achievement, family engagement, staff appreciation and in-kind donations.  

 
Our Year-End Celebration kicked off with a time of open-ended activities including a Get-To-Know-You scavenger hunt, and collaborative photobooth, courtesy of Bash Nashville. Guests were able to hang out in our courtyard or get food in our reception hall. We were welcomed by Operation Andrew Group’s president Linda Leathers and Director of United4Hope, Laura Varela, who reminded us of the importance of persevering together even if takes years to see growth.  

After lunch, we watched videos sent in from MNPS Superintendent, Dr. Adrienne Battle, as well as FSD Superintendent, Dr. David Snowden, who both shared words of gratitude to all the amazing churches and school partners who have worked together this year to honor and support families and students.  

We were then treated to three amazing performances by two spoken word artists, courtesy of Southern Word. Both performers are MNPS students, and they passionately shared their perspective about things in their lives that bring them hope.  

After an announcement by Director of United4Pastors, Adam Buzard, we closed the day with raffle prizes, which included sponsored donations from Five Daughters Bakery, Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, Nashville Soccer Club, and Chris’s Custom Creations. 

Throughout the event, we encouraged guests to fill out the United4Hope “Reflection Tree” with leaves that represented moments of hope past, present and future, and flowers that represented moments of resilience witnessed over the past school year. As guests filed out, the tree collected dozens of these small testimonials from all over. Guests were also able to leave with take home gifts, many funny memories, and a unified feeling of excitement as we end this school year and look forward to the one to come! 

 
If you are a church coordinator or pastor, please look forward to our 2025 Convening that will take place July 24, 2025. It will be a time to regroup, think of fresh ideas and prepare as God leads us the next harvest of hope that we will all work on together!