Last week in Nashville, Vince Gill hosted a 3-1/2 hour telethon to raise money for Flood Relief in Nashville. The telethon was aired on MSMV TV, the local NBC affiliate. More than 6,000 phone calls were received during the short telethon, and over $1.7 million was raised. Calls came in from as far away as California. And of course, all of the money donated will be helping people affected by the flooding last weekend.
Among those making donations were Reba, who donated $100,000; Taylor Swift, who is donating $500,000, and even Vince Gill kicked in a donation of his own, as well as hosting the event. Charlie Daniels called in and offered his support. And Dierks Bentley said he tried to call but couldn’t get through the busy signal. That’s good news really. I’m glad so many people were calling that they were keeping the lines busy. Dierks did tweet from Boston before starting his show there.
The fund raising continues with GAC planning to host a national telethon for the cause. Music City Keep on Playin’ – A Benefit for Flood Relief, will feature performances by Brad Paisley, Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bently, Rodney Adkins, and many other stars who will be announced soon.
Celebrities will join other volunteers to answer phones and collect the donations called in. All of this money will be given to Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, an organization that will distribute the funds to people who need them.
"Nashville has endured historic flooding, but we are resilient, recovery efforts have already begun and I am confident we will come out of this stronger than ever," reports Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. "Music is the heart and soul of this city and as such it will play a critical role in its recovery. This collaborative effort is just one example."
So many people are reaching out to the people who lost so much in this flood. I know it’s going to take some time to get Nashville back the way it was, but with so many people reaching deep into their pockets to lend a hand, I know it will can be done.
I want to thank everyone who is following me on Twitter – I said I would donate 10 cents to the Nashville Area Red Cross, for every new follower I got from Tuesday through Friday last week, but I think we can do better than just 100 people. So I’m going to leave that open for the rest of this week, too. And each new follower I get this week will be another 10 cents for the Red Cross.
I’ve also had a few people e-mail me to find out where they could send donations themselves, and if anyone else needs that address, here it is for you: Nashville Area Red Cross, 2201 Charlotte Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203.
I’ll talk to you all soon. Have a great Monday1
Country
Hi,
I would like to share a great tune dedicated to the Nashville flood victims 2010. The tune is called
“Pourin’Rain”. The writers are John Laux(Lox)& Debbie Laux. The artist on demo is Nashville’s own Ronnie Kimball. There is a slide show video @ http://www.youtube.com/perrymyers1.
Star Connection Publishing/BMI/Nashville 2010
Thanks
John Lox