Gospel musician Larnelle Harris will perform at Prison Prevention Ministries’ annual banquet on Thursday.

A five-time Grammy Award winner, Harris boasts 19 No. 1 hits. He was one of the first black Christian artists to cross racial barriers into predominantly white churches. He was inducted into the Gospel Music Association Foundation Hall of Fame in October 2007.

“Very rarely do I run into people as willing and as ready to receive (God’s message) as prisoners,” Harris said in a phone interview. “I see in their eyes that they are internalizing what the meaning of grace is for maybe the first time of their lives.”

Prison Prevention Ministries works with inmates, families and at-risk youth to teach spiritual and emotional growth in the hope of preventing incarceration or recidivism. Prevention programs include tours of maximum-security prisons to show young people what life on the inside is really like. Programs also include ex-offenders giving presentations to students.

One full-time chaplain and 70 volunteers work in eight prisons and jails in Chattanooga and North Georgia.

The PPM banquet begins at 6 p.m. Dinner is served buffet-style. Admission is free, but donations to PPM are encouraged.

Although the reservations deadline has passed, PPM officials say calls will be accepted through Monday for those wishing to attend.