Nashville 2010 Flood Relief, Nashville, TN

Give some last-minute, feel-good gifts to benefit flood victims

by Margaret Littman | December 21, 2010

Last week I blogged about the series of nine concerts country megastar Garth Brooks was playing at Bridgestone Arena (formerly called the Sommet Center) in order to raise funds for the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s flood relief efforts. The concerts run through tomorrow. If you can get a last-minute ticket, I highly recommend it. (Some folks are selling their tickets on StubHub and other online sites. Some tickets are selling at more than the $25 face value, but others are less, and StubHub is donating its portion of the fees to flood relief, too.) It was, no exaggeration, the best concert I’ve ever attended. Meeting so many people who came from Little Rock and New York and even San Diego to support Nashville was a powerful experience. Even Brooks was moved by it, continuing to mention his gratitude to his fans, and playing two physically exhausting shows some nights. I was tired (and teary-eyed and hoarse) just watching him.

If you can’t get tickets, aren’t in town, or (gasp!) aren’t a Garth fan, but you’re still in the giving mood of the season, there are plenty of ways you can help this community.

It is true that much of Music City has recovered from May’s floods. The Schermerhorn Symphony Center re-opens on New Year’s Eve with a sold out bash and Opryland and the Grand Ole Opry are back and bustling. But there are still neighborhoods (including my own) that have individual homes that are still vacant, with residents waiting for insurance settlements and savings and gifts so that they can rebuild.

The best gift you can give to Nashville is to come visit. Stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, attend our concerts and check out our museums. We want to show you how much fun it is to be here, and how quickly we bounced back from Mother Nature’s challenge. If you want to do more (or need a last-minute gift for someone on your list), there are a few other options. Because the only thing more fun than holiday shopping is shopping when proceeds go to a good cause:

· The Community Foundation is selling giving cards, which are essentially charitable gift cards. You buy the card from the Foundation. Your lucky recipient gets to “redeem” the card and pick to which charity will receive the funds.

· Local letterpress masters the Isle of Printing sold local Olive and Sinclair candy bars wrapped with these Bail Out Nashville prints earlier this summer. The prints, which are beautiful (one hangs in my office), are available from their Etsy store; 50 percent of all proceeds go straight to Hands on Nashville. If you really want both the print with the Willy Wonka-style candy bar, e-mail the fine folks at Isle of Printing and see if they can hook you up.

· ReTune Nashville called on local artists of all stripes to create works of art from flood-damaged musical instruments (Lots of musicians, including Keith Urban and Brad Paisley, lost their instruments in the flood). Proceeds from online auctions of these works go to provide relief for uninsured musicians. New works will be posted for auction every month, so bid to your heart’s content. Just don’t out bid me on my favorites.

· “We Are Nashville” was the mantra that folks used as they were pulling together and drying out. Buy posters, shirts, tote bags and more with this line on them, and help raise funds for flood relief. Sales from purchases at My Shirt Helps now benefit other charities, but the efforts were born out of local flood relief programs.

· Use the code “Nashville” when you buy Preparedness Kits and other gear at www.1800prepare.com. With that code, 10 percent of your purchases goes to the MusiCares Nashville Flood Relief Fund. And, you'll have a gift that helps your friends and family be ready the next time Mother Nature gets testy.