Twenty-eight gifts, wrapped in snow white paper, surrounded Fox News reporter and weekend anchor Kelly Wright when he took the speaker's podium.

The presents symbolized babies born here this year who might not have been born at all without intervention, officials with the faith-based Gainesville Care Center said on Thursday.

Wright looked to the audience and said there was an "active spirit" in Gainesville that touches lives, who go on to touch more lives. He understands that pro-life mission better than most.

"I'm not a product of rape, I am a product of courage," Wright said.

The newsman served as the keynote speaker at a dinner sponsored by the organization's board of directors as a fundraiser. Around 500 people attended the event, which was held at the First Baptist Church banquet hall in Gainesville.

The Care Center is a place that educates people to make decisions about their reproductive lives with faith in mind. Counseling and support for men and women as well as those who terminated pregnancies are among the many services offered, said Ann Gainey, the center's executive director.

"Abortion stops a line of descendants," she said. "Choices matter."

Before Wright's speech, several testimonials were presented on video screens throughout the cavernous room.

They included one presented by Aisha Blackwell, who at age 16 went to the Care Center pregnant, scared and considering abortion. Today, she's a mom, college student and better woman.

"I didn't want to come at first," Blackwell said. "But I knew I needed to ... This place taught me to be a strong mother and wife."

Wright's speech focused on his own mother, June, who was sexually assaulted in 1954 by a preacher acquaintance. The violent encounter resulted in a pregnancy.

Despite facing family pressures, she persevered in her decision to give birth.

"My mother poured life into me. She poured faith into me. She reared me to become what I am today," Wright said.

Her resolve as a teenager withstood intense family pressures to abort the only child she would ever have.

She continued giving Wright gifts her entire life, he said, mentioning his profound sense of faith, which he professed in song to open his talk.

Wright ended his speech in melody, too.

"If I can help somebody as I travel along, if I can help somebody with a word or a song ... then my living will not be in vain," Wright sang. "Never let your living be in vain."