Earlier this year, country music star Brad Paisley went above and beyond to help the poor when he opened a free grocery store to serve the elderly and those in need with his wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, in Nashville, Tennessee. As if guided by some higher power, The Store first opened its doors right as the pandemic hit.
Brad Paisley Opens ‘The Store’ in Nashville
Wide Open Country reported that Paisley’s humanitarian grocery store is simply called The Store, and opened its doors on March 14.
“It’s easy to feel lost right now. It turns out, our little charity endeavor @thestore_nashville has fortuitous timing,” Paisley wrote on Instagram at the time. “Due to the work of many dedicated volunteers, partners and donors, The Store has been able to open earlier than anticipated. We can now serve the needs of the community beyond the initial scope of our original mission.”
In a video posted to the social media site, Williams-Paisley added, “we’re offering aid to the families affected by the recent tornado in Nashville and also the Coronavirus outbreak.”
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Brad Paisley’s Store Delivers Groceries To The Elderly
One of the best benefits of The Store is that it delivers to the elderly in the Nashville community.
Paisley, who is the president of The Store’s board of trustees, explained that the main purpose of The Store is to help people who have fallen on hard times by treating them with kindness.
“This is a grocery store with dignity for people who have fallen on hard times,” Paisley told The Tennessean. “All of us are one unforeseen disaster away from rock bottom. It’s nice to think about a place where when that happens to someone, they can use it to get back on their feet.”
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The Store has teamed up with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee to offer fresh and non-perishable foods for free to customers in need for one year.
Given everything that has happened in 2020, this kind of service is needed now more than ever.
Paisley explained that he and his wife got the idea for The Store after taking their children to volunteer at Unity Shoppe in Santa Barbara, California around Thanksgiving.
Like The Store, the Unite Shoppe offers free groceries as well as free school clothing and supplies, job training and other essentials.
“It was inspiring because these people have dignity,” Paisley said. “It’s not a scene from ‘Oliver Twist.’ These people are able to sit there and feel very, very normal in the eyes of their kids. I remember … thinking, ‘Why isn’t this everywhere?’ Essentially, we got this idea that it could be a very effective thing in Nashville.”
The Store Receives $1.5 Million Grant
Once The Store opened, it was given a $1.5 million 2Gen Family Wellbeing grant from the Department of Human Services.
“Through the work of our Ministry Center and our partnership with Brad and Kimberly on The Store, Belmont is deeply committed to providing services to underserved children and families in our community, and this 2Gen grant from the Tennessee Department of Human Services will significantly enhance the scope and delivery of the services we offer,” Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said. “We are grateful for their belief in our work, and I’m excited to witness how this grant expands the impact our students, faculty and staff can have on our neighbors.”
It’s so nice to see a celebrity like Brad Paisley stepping up to use his platform to help those in need in such a beautiful way!
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