A New York City policeman on 9/11, Daniel Rodriguez used his voice to offer comfort to grieving families at dozens of funerals and lift up a nation with his rendition of &ldquo;God Bless America&rdquo; at a televised ceremony after the terrorist attacks. The journey that has since taken him around the world also brought the &ldquo;Singing Policeman&rdquo; to Marion in April 2008. He won hearts with his music and message, but apparently the community also earned a special place in the internationally renowned tenor&rsquo;s heart.

BY STEPHANIE PORTER-NICHOLS
Staff

A New York City policeman on 9/11, Daniel Rodriguez used his voice to offer comfort to grieving families at dozens of funerals and lift up a nation with his rendition of &ldquo;God Bless America&rdquo; at a televised ceremony after the terrorist attacks. The journey that has since taken him around the world also brought the &ldquo;Singing Policeman&rdquo; to Marion in April 2008. He won hearts with his music and message, but apparently the community also earned a special place in the internationally renowned tenor&rsquo;s heart.
This Sunday, Oct. 16, he is returning to Smyth County to present a free concert at First United Methodist Church in downtown Marion. A love offering will be taken at the 7 p.m. concert to help raise money for the church&rsquo;s food pantry.
During the concert, Sally Moorer, FUMC&rsquo;s Outreach Committee chairperson, said Rodriquez will honor emergency first responders and military service personnel. He will also perform inspirational music.
Moorer is struck by Rodriquez&rsquo;s apparent fondness for Smyth County and his excitement to return. She said he has often spoken of the people&rsquo;s kindness. Moorer said his manager told her that Rodriquez has spoken so highly of Smyth County that he now wants to visit. 
&ldquo;We know we have a wonderful county, but when someone world renowned is so attached&hellip; it really makes you feel proud,&rdquo; Moorer said.
Moorer said when she first heard Rodriquez sing, his &ldquo;voice was like an angel&rsquo;s.&rdquo;
When Rodriquez sang &ldquo;God Bless America&rdquo; at a Christian outreach celebration in 2008, he brought the crowd gathered in Marion Senior High&rsquo;s stadium to its feet.
At that time, Rodriquez spoke briefly of being at Ground Zero when the Trade Towers fell and the loss of friends. He urged the audience to find their gifts from God. The one-time NYPD officer said gifts come in many forms, including compassion, a listening ear and kindness. &ldquo;They (the gifts) belong to those with whom we share them,&rdquo; said Rodriguez.&amp;nbsp; 
Rodriguez has sung for most of his life but it was as a NYPD police officer that his talent became better known. He sang with the department&rsquo;s ceremonial unit.&amp;nbsp; 
Rodriquez&rsquo;s wife, Marla Kavanaugh, also a singer, and their daughter will accompany him to Marion.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re so grateful to have such a friendship with them&hellip;. We&rsquo;re trying to get them to move here,&rdquo; Moorer said. 
A love offering to be taken at the concert will benefit FUMC&rsquo;s food pantry, which was established earlier this year. Moorer said it&rsquo;s been especially encouraging to see the support the pantry has received in the community.
The pantry had to cancel one&rsquo;s month&rsquo;s food delivery this summer when the Feeding America Food Bank in Abingdon didn&rsquo;t have supplies available.
FUMC Pastor Jonathan Jonas said a number of supporters have since stepped forward.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re so grateful to the Marion Walmart for collecting food&hellip; over the past few weeks. They had a large collection box for food donations at the store&rsquo;s main entrance/exit, and they also offered shoppers the opportunity to purchase extra food items for the food pantry at the registers. They really stepped forward to help feed our community with that effort.&rdquo;
&ldquo;During the summer,&rdquo; Jonas said, &ldquo;we received a contribution of $1,000 worth of food from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints&rsquo; Bishops&rsquo; Storehouse. That contribution came at a great time, because we received it just when the Feeding America Food Bank&hellip; was experiencing a food crunch.&rdquo;
The pastor also said, &ldquo;Other individuals and churches in the community have made monetary contributions and have volunteered their time to ensure that we could offer the food pantry on the third Thursday of each month.&rdquo;
According to Jonas, on average the pantry is assisting about 175 households per month, and according to church records, the average household size is three people, which means the pantry is serving approximately 525 people per month.
Moorer reflected, &ldquo;It warms your heart to be there working and see the smiles on people&rsquo;s faces. You hope you&rsquo;re helping.&rdquo;
On Monday, Rodriquez will share his personal journey of faith and hope in a program of inspirational favorites at Emory &amp;amp; Henry&rsquo;s Memorial Chapel, starting at 7:30 p.m. There is no admission fee for this event.

sportern@wythenews.com | 783-5121