[WhiteRob]

Popular Musician/Composer and radio host John Tesh agreed to chair the 5th annual Great Thanksgiving Banquet sponsored by the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM). Tesh will kick off the week-long event in New York City November 24, 2003 by serving a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless at the New York City Rescue Mission.

“We expect to feed about half a million men, women and children during this year’s Great Thanksgiving Banquet,” said Rev. Stephen E. Burger, Executive Director of the AGRM. “John Tesh and his wife regularly serve meals at the Rescue Missions in their community, and he represented our event two years ago. He is right on the front lines of the war on homelessness in this country.”

In a remarkably successful career that now spans more than 25 years, Tesh is known worldwide as a leading and respected figure in the entertainment and broadcasting industries. Tesh is also the host of a nationally syndicated radio show with a weekly listening audience of eight million people and is president/CEO of his own record company.

This fall Tesh will re-release his “Christmas Worship,” CD, with a special edition DVD, “Christmas in Positano,” filmed live from the Amalfi coast in Italy. PBS will be airing “Christmas In Positano” nationally starting on Thanksgiving, and continuing throughout December. In addition to this special, Tesh will be taping “Virtual Pledge Drives” to be sent out via satellite to PBS member stations. The money garnered from the pledge drives will go to support the individual PBS stations. Tesh’s “Red Rocks” special with PBS was one of the most successful fund-raising events ever for PBS.

“The positive impact of Rescue Missions came clear to me several years ago, serving a holiday meal at a Mission in Los Angeles,” said Tesh. “Since then I have seen how something as simple as a turkey dinner with all the trimmings can be the entry point for a man or a woman to rehabilitation, education and job training. People’s lives are changed at Rescue Missions – not just those being served either – the servers are blessed as well.”

More than 280 Rescue Missions across the US participate in the Great Thanksgiving Banquet during Thanksgiving week. About 500,000 meals will be served at Missions, or provided to the communities the Missions serve. Most are traditional dinners, with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables and dessert. Governors, mayors, sports stars and Hollywood celebrities volunteer to serve.

Rescue Missions offer more than hot meals, and safe beds to sleep. They provide long-term drug and alcohol rehabilitation, education, job training and spiritual guidance programs to help people get off the streets and back into productive life.

The Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM) is an association of nearly 300 Rescue Missions and other ministries that provide 35 million meals and 12 million nights of lodging to homeless and poor people in the inner cities of the United States and Canada each year. Since 1913, AGRM members have offered emergency food and shelter, youth and family services, prison and jail outreach, rehabilitation, and specialized programs for the mentally ill, the elderly, the urban poor and street youth.