Sunday, February 10, 2008

Nashville Donates


Nashville-area citizens came out in droves this weekend to donate food, clothing and other essentials to those affected by Tuesday's deadly tornadoes. The Mayor's Office of Emergency Management teamed up with the Tennessee Titans to collect donations from Middle Tennesseans. Also participating in the effort were the Adventist Church, BridgestoneAmerica's Emergency Response Team, Pallet Warehouse and Hands On Nashville. Yesterday, donations completely filled four semi-truck trailers. I got there an hour or two after they opened this morning, and they had already filled almost half of another trailer.

The process ran very smoothly. Cars pulled up beside pallets loaded with cardboard boxes. Each box held specific items . . . crackers, soup, diapers, soap, sugar, water, paper towels, men's shirts, shoes, etc. Volunteers unloaded the cars and placed items in their appropriate boxes. Once the car was empty of donations, the driver could leave. It took about 30-60 seconds per car.

Tennesseans take the state's nickname - The Volunteer State - very seriously.

9 comments:

FĂ©nix - Bostonscapes said...

Very well organized, indeed. A commendable effort.

Southern Heart said...

That is wonderful! I love seeing people come together for a good cause.

Thanks so much for the anniversary wishes! :) Are you still possibly coming to the Civil Rights Museum? I wish we were going to be in town and could take you out to eat. This weekend we are taking DS2 for a college visit at the Univ of AL. If you do get to come, I hope you enjoy it! Pearl's Oyster House recently opened and is just a block from the CRM, and yummy!

Halcyon said...

That's a nice thing for people to do. I must admit that I was attracted by the boxes. I am a box hound these days!

Southern Heart said...

Chris, we don't attend that church, but were driving through that area today and I just think that church is lovely! They also do a lot of good community outreach work. I'm Presbyterian, but my maternal grandfather was Catholic, and I often attended Mass with him at several churches in town.

I heard the "City of 1000 Churches" in a book written by a native Memphian about 20 years ago. My mother read it first, and then shared it with me. She loved it because the author grew up in Memphis and graduated from high school a year before she did and knew a lot of the same people, and it was almost like reading about her own teenage years in Memphis. I'll see if I can find it around here; I can't remember the author's name.

The downtown area is fine whenever you want to visit. The only areas that are still down are Hickory Hill and the older part of Southaven, MS, near the airport. If you need any recommendations or info, please feel free to email me. :)

Andrea
truesouthernheart at yahoo dot com

Janet said...

A great worthwhile volunteer effort!


To answer your question, Selma is probably about a four-hour drive from Nashville. We'll be having Spring Pilgrimage the middle of March.

Wanda said...

That is such a wonderful thing they are doing. We use to play in boxes like that when I was a kid. More fun than expensive toys.

Anonymous said...

It is good that everyone has pitched in to help out. Nice post.

quintarantino said...

That's one of the most amazing things in human nature: the kindness in the heart.
A very good thing happened there.

Ming the Merciless said...

What a beautiful and touching gesture from the people of Nashville!