Jeff Foxworthy became famous with his “You Might Be a Redneck if…” routine. If you’re wondering whether his move to Historic Brookhaven a few years ago with wife Pamela Gregg has prompted a new series of jokes, the answer is no. You won’t hear him making Historic Brookhaven or Buckhead jokes, but you might hear something about his yard and a recent encounter with a copperhead.

 

An avid outdoorsman, Jeff bow hunts, fishes, likes to drive a tractor and will sit silently in a tree for hours waiting for a deer. Yet it wasn’t until walking around his own yard this summer that he joined what he jokes might be an exclusive Historic Brookhaven club: residents who have been bitten by a copperhead. “I got the bill for the antivenom and need to come up with jokes to pay for that,” he jests.

 

At age 65, Jeff is still writing jokes and performs 40 to 50 shows a year across the country. But it’s his family and his devotion to non-profit organizations that take up a lot of his time these days. Always a family man, he and Gregg became grandparents two-and-a-half years ago. Now you can often find them babysitting. The Foxworthys also give generously of their time, talents, and money to many local and national non-profits as well as groups across the world.

 

“Sometimes I look at my calendar and I don’t have a paying gig for a month,” Jeff notes. “I have a full calendar but I’m not getting paid.”

 

Foxworthy has been entertaining audiences for about 40 years -- the same amount of time he has been with his wife Gregg. The two met at The Punchline Comedy Club Jeff’s first night on stage. Working as an actor at the time, Gregg was there supporting an actor friend who was one of Jeff’s competitors. That night, however, it was Jeff who walked away with the competition prize and the girl.

 

In 1984, a year after his first night on stage, the former Georgia Tech student and IBM mainframe computer maintenance worker won the Great Southeastern Laugh-Off at the Punchline. His career took off from there. He and Gregg were married in 1985, and are still friends with the actor whom Gregg came to see compete against Jeff in 1983.

 

Jeff has hosted and starred in television shows (including Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader? and The Jeff Foxworthy Show), been nominated for Grammy’s, written almost 30 books (three of which were children’s books), performed in countless comedy shows (including the Blue Collar Comedy Tour) and stand-up gigs, worked as a voice actor, and more. He enjoys painting, and his grandchildren’s bedrooms are decorated with his drawings.

 

His redneck jokes are perhaps his most famous and stem from his years growing up in Hapeville. Making fun of rednecks is easy because “rednecks know they are funny and laugh at themselves more than other people do,” Jeff says.

 

Rednecks might be funny but giving back is no laughing matter for Jeff or Gregg, unless Jeff is performing to raise funds for a non-profit organization. The Foxworthys have supported countless charities across the world for years.

 

Raising money for research to fight childhood cancer has been one of their biggest causes throughout the years. Jeff’s aunt taught oncology nursing at Emory University and helped to found Camp Sunshine, one of the organizations supported by the Foxworthys. “She was one of the big mentors in my life,” he says.

 

His brother played college football at Duke University, which is how they came to become involved with the Duke Children’s Hospital. Their work there has included chairing the Duke Golf Classic and Gregg serving on the board.

 

“The children are like old souls,” says Jeff. “They’ve had to deal with stuff old people shouldn’t have to deal with. It affects the whole family – mom sleeping in hospital, dad working two jobs and raising the other kids.” This aspect is what led them to become involved with Atlanta-based CURE Childhood Cancer, which supports families with a childhood cancer diagnosis.

 

Homelessness is another passionate cause for Jeff and Gregg. In fact, Jeff led a men’s Bible study at the Atlanta Mission for 12 years until the pandemic brought it to a halt. Foxworthy said he first had to ply the men with Chick-fil-A biscuits to get them to attend. He would wake at 5 a.m. to make sure he was first in line for biscuits.

 

They are going on a Compassion International mission trip next spring. The Foxworthys sponsor children and have visited Kenya, Rwanda, and Central America with the organization, which works to end childhood poverty around the world in Jesus’ name.

 

The list of organizations helped by the Foxworthys could go on and on. Jeff has hosted a show to benefit the City of Brookhaven Police Department and one for the Salvation Army. They are involved in Young Life, Hope Heals, Plywood People, and countless other charitable groups.

 

Their eldest daughter Jordan (31) has lived the Foxworthy passion for helping others. She studied film, sociology, and African studies at the University of Georgia (UGA), and since graduation has worked in both the non-profit (Atlanta Mission and Compassion International) and entertainment worlds. Now, she is the production coordinator at Tenderfoot TV, a podcast company with the popular series Vanished, Up, and To Live and Die in LA, among many others. She and Gregg love seeing Marvel movies together and have a mother-daughter tradition of attending the Sundance Film Festival in Park City each year.

 

Youngest daughter Jules (29), a fabulous cook and one of the funniest people Gregg and Jeff say they know, graduated from Auburn University and is a stay-at-home mom. She, her husband Brendan Corley, and children live close by in Dunwoody. You can often find Gregg and Jeff babysitting, and Gregg picks up two-and-a-half-year-old Ronan from preschool on certain days. They were thrilled when granddaughter Quinn was born this summer.

 

“Grandkids are God’s reward for not killing your own kids,” Jeff jokes. “I had no idea I was going to love being a grandparent so much.”

 

When asked whether his grandchildren have provided inspiration for another kid’s book, Jeff says not yet. “I should write down all the funny things they say,” he notes. “There is such a pure and innocent and hilarious vocabulary.”

 

Gregg and Jeff raised their girls in a home in Country Club of the South. When they decided to downsize, the couple first thought they would stay in the area but Jules suggested that Jeff and Gregg house hunt in Historic Brookhaven. Gregg’s father had lived in Sandy Springs so she was familiar with the area but told her daughter she doubted Jeff would move in town. He surprised her and was willing to look. Within two weeks they were under contract.

 

While Jeff grew up in Georgia, Gregg spent most of her formative years in New Orleans. Her parents divorced when she was 13 years old and she moved to Atlanta with her dad. She attended high school here and then moved on to UGA where she majored in theater.

 

Jeff was raised a Bulldog but attended Tech because it was the closest school to his Hapeville home, where he lived while in college. He worked full-time at a grocery store to put himself through school and says if he’d had enough money, he probably would have gone to UGA and studied journalism. “I’ve always loved to write,” he says. “Even when I was going to Tech, I was a Bulldog fan. My granddad pounded that into my DNA.” He heads to Athens for football games and will attend practices.

 

Holidays at the Foxworthy house are crowded family affairs. Every year, they host Thanksgiving at their farm with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Gregg cooks for everyone and Jeff serves as sous chef and cleaner-upper. “And I run the trash to the dumpster,” he adds.

 

The farm is in Harris County, near Callaway Gardens, and includes a greenhouse and blueberry orchard as well as lots of space to hunt and fish. Jeff says he could live there, but Gregg was raised a city girl and likes her conveniences. “I do love being down there,” she says. “Our girls got the best of both worlds.”

 

Their Christmas tradition is brunch. After presents are opened on Christmas morning, they head downtown to the Ritz-Carlton with whoever is in town. Last year, they hosted 23 people. Christmas brunch has been a tradition for 33 years, since before their girls were born. Jeff jokes, however, that if people stop paying to see him perform, the tradition will move from the Ritz to the Waffle House.

 

When asked what they like best about living in Historic Brookhaven, Jeff talks about the friendly and interesting people they meet on walks and the neighborhood’s proximity to everything from family to the airport to the farm. “We love it so much,” says Gregg. “We love our neighbors, the walking, the history and all the trees. It’s fabulous.”

 

FAVORITE THINGS BOX – CREATE A SIDEBAR BOX    

HEAD = The Foxworthy’s Favorite Things

Favorite local restaurants: The Alden (“Chef Jared is amazing!”), Haven, Terra Terroir

 

Sports teams: University of Georgia Bulldogs

 

TV shows: British crime shows, documentaries, Yellowstone, Peaky Blinders

 

Movies: Gladiator (Jeff), anything Marvel (Gregg, especially at the theater with Jordan)

 

Vacations: Italy, Hawaii, 30A

 

RUN WITH THE COVER/SPOTLIGHT STORY SINCE IT’S A LISTING OF THEIR FAVORITE CHARITIES

HEAD = Learn About Five Charities Supported by Gregg and Jeff Foxworthy

 

This month instead of focusing on one charity, Stroll Historic Brookhaven is highlighting five non-profit organizations where our cover family, the Foxworthys, spend a lot of their time. The Foxworthys have a long history of supporting nonprofit work in Atlanta and around the world. As Jeff jokes, his calendar might be full but he doesn’t have a paying gig for 30 days.

 

Non-profit: Atlanta Mission

Mission: To transform through Christ the lives of those facing homelessness.

Contact: Visit Atlantamission.org to donate and find urgent needs; go to Atlantamission.volunteerhub.com to volunteer

How You Can Help: Donate or volunteer (opportunities include helping with meals, working with children, serving in Bible studies or chapel services, helping clients with job searches, campus beautification, and supporting Atlanta Mission staff)

 

Non-profit: Compassion International

Mission: Compassion International is a child-development ministry dedicated to releasing children from poverty in the name of Jesus. They work globally through the local church in poverty-stricken countries.

Contact: Visit Compassion.com to donate or sponsor a child

How You Can Help: Sponsor a child, donate to critical needs, pray

 

Non-profit: Plywood People

Mission: To train and support a global community of social impact leaders who are working to solve social issues and make their community a better place.

Contact: Visit Plywoodpeople.com and reach out to founder Jeff Shinabarger

How You Can Help: Donate, attend the annual auction

 

Non-profit: CURE Childhood Cancer

Mission: By working together and doing little things, we can all be heroes for children with cancer.

Contact: Visit Curechildhoodcancer.org and contact CEO Kristin Connor

How You Can Help: Donate, host a fundraiser, help create snack and toiletry bags for families or boredom buster bags and no-sew blankets for patients, partner with CURE

 

Non-profit: Hope Heals

Mission: Katherine and Jay Wolf started Hope Heals after Katherine had a devastating, near-death stroke. They turned their healing and survival into a ministry to help others find joy in the midst of catastrophic injuries.

Contact: Visit Hopeheals.com

How You Can Help: Donate, volunteer at a camp for families affected by disability, take a workshop or read one of their books