Scholarship Winner, Joseph McFarland

John Michael Bailey Injury Lawyers

Each year since 2005, John Michael Bailey has awarded a $1,000 Scholarship to a senior from his Alma Mater, Overton High School. These scholarships are awarded based on an essay contest, in which each student explains the efforts he or she has made in the area of community service.

This year, we are very proud to announce that Mr. Joseph McFarland is the extremely deserved winner of the John Michael Bailey Scholarship. Joseph was raised in the Frayser area of Memphis, where he and his mother began their own ministry in a low income apartment complex. He and his mother rented one of the units, and invited children in the other units to join them for prayer and fellowship. The children who joined this ministry were fed lunch, entertained with games and hymns, and provided with basic items each of us need, such as toiletries, food, clothes, and shoes.

As Joseph grew older, his calling to give back to the community grew even larger. He began volunteering with the Church Without Doors in downtown Memphis. He joins this church on a regular basis, feeding and ministering to the homeless population. He then began to participate in foreign mission work, such as joining the "Big Feed," which is a mission program in Mexico. The purpose of this mission is to organize and distribute donations such as food, computers, clothing, and medicine to the poorest villages in Mexico.

Most recently, Joseph has joined the "Constructors for Christ," which he has participated in for the last five years. This organization fills the needs of small communities around the United States by helping construction workers build as much of a church as can be done in six weeks. Joseph has learned several trades by constructing these churches, such as air conditioning, roofing, and electrical wiring.

In addition to his interest in helping others, Joseph is also quite a talented young man. He played the tuba for the Overton Wind Ensemble, and has a music scholarship to attend the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in the fall. In the meantime, we are proud to have Joseph working here with us in the office as a paid intern. He has proven to be a fast learner, which is no surprise, as he maintained a 3.9 grade point average at Overton High School! We wish Joseph the best of luck in all his future endeavors, and the door is open for him here at the Law Office of John Michael Bailey.