Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Daniels will speak and perform at the inaugural “Veteran Impact Celebration” in Murfreesboro from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, June 28.

The sold-out fundraiser, benefiting MTSU‘s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center, will be held at The Grove at Williamson Place, located off Medical Center Parkway near Interstate 24.

Charlie and Hazel Daniels support the MTSU Daniels Veterans Center through The Journey Home Project, which he co-founded in 2014. He headlines the inaugural Veteran Impact Celebration set Thursday, June 28, at The Grove at Williamson Place in Murfreesboro. (Submitted photo)

The event will highlight corporate and community leaders who have generously supported and invested in the Daniels Center’s Veterans Transitioning Home office for student veterans and other MTSU students.

“We owe our country’s veterans for their service and should do everything we can to help them,” said Daniels. “The Daniels Center does a great job of supporting the student-veterans and helping them to transition from military to civilian life. Thank you to everyone who has supported this inaugural sold out event, every donation makes a difference.”

The private event features dinner, a VIP meet and greet/photo op with Daniels, as well as additional speakers, including retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Keith M. Huber, MTSU senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives, and university President Sidney A. McPhee.

Lt. Gen. Keith Huber

“This will be an incredible night of music, recognition and appreciation,” Huber said. “We will celebrate the impact of our veterans and their precious families as they continue to serve our nation, now out of military attire, as leaders in our communities and workforce.

“We will recognize the business leaders and organizations which provide opportunities and loyal support to our military,” he added. “We will appreciate the unparalleled commitment of MTSU to our veterans as well as the patriotic foundation of support, the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center.”

The Daniels Center is the largest and most comprehensive veterans center on any higher education campus in Tennessee. It enables MTSU’s 900-plus student-veteran population to have a one-stop shop to meet a variety of their academic needs.

The 3,200-square-foot center is located in the Keathley University Center in the heart of the MTSU campus and is a place for MTSU’s student veterans to study, to gather and to get help from fellow veterans, who serve as peer advisers and sponsors. The Transitioning Home office assists students in making the change from college student life to getting their careers underway.

“MTSU’s Daniels Center has provided a welcoming space for myself and my family as I transition into the university community,” said Jacqueline Evans of Florence, South Carolina, a veteran of the U.S. Marines and a senior majoring in leisure, sports and tourism studies..

The Veteran Impact Celebration is sponsored by The Journey Home Project, the Nashville Predators, Hiller, Dollar General, Mission BBQ, The Grove at Williamson Place, the Steel Barrel Brewing Company and Stones River Total Beverages.

Planning for the 2019 Veteran Impact Celebration is currently underway. Organizers say the event will take place each year on the Thursday preceding July 4.

Daniels, 81, has won multiple awards in both the country and gospel genres as well as helping to define Southern rock with the Charlie Daniels Band and his signature song, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” He’s parlayed his lifelong passion for music into a multiplatinum career and a platform to support the military, underprivileged children and others in need.

During the course of his career, he’s received numerous accolades, including his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame and his membership in the Grand Ole Opry. He’s a staunch supporter of the military and lends his time and talent to numerous charitable organizations, including The Journey Home Project, which he founded in 2014 with his manager, David Corlew, to help veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.

For more information, visit www.charliedaniels.com.

The Journey Home Project is a not-for profit organization that assists other not-for-profits secure funds to help causes benefiting veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Conscious of the need to assist our nation’s veterans, founders Daniels and Corlew partner with organizations that do the most good with the least overhead. For more information, visit thejourneyhomeproject.org.

— Don Murry Grubbs, special to MTSUNews.com