Nashville Tornado: Week One-On the Ground

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WEEK ONE-LIVE UPDATE

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WEEK ONE UPDATE:

Over the past weekend, our Inspiritus Disaster Response teams coordinated nearly all of the spontaneous volunteers who showed up to help in Mount Juliet, leading over 1,500 volunteers on Saturday alone!

Emergency officials in Cookeville were overwhelmed by the level of destruction they endured. They had to turn away over 4,000 volunteers until they partnered with us this weekend. We were able to offer the city quick training and free use of our disaster leadership team in Cookeville, to help.

Together with these local city heroes, we helped coordinate over 2,800 volunteers pouring in from all over the country!

In the North Nashville/Germantown community, our MyCanvas art therapy program empowered youth impacted by the storms to process through their experiences and begin to heal. Each day after the tornado, local Lutheran church partners volunteered and generously provided hot cooked meals to local residents and responders, warming many hearts during this dark time.

As we enter week two of our tornado response, we wanted to share our latest information and action steps:    

WHAT WE ARE DOING:

NORTH NASHVILLE / GERMANTOWN 

- Food Box Distribution Site for residents in this hard-hit area

NASHVILLE AREA

- Response teams for debris removal, chainsawing, & tarping

- Volunteer coordination support

- Long-Term recovery planning

COOKEVILLE

- Response teams for debris removal, chainsawing, & tarping

- Volunteer coordination support

- Long-Term recovery planning

THE NEED:

North Nashville / Germantown - Direct hit to homes and businesses; Growing concern about the need for hunger relief for families without power, especially low income or disabled families and children living in the area or families taking shelter in local facilities.

Nashville Area/Mt. Juliet - Initial surveys indicated EF-3 tornado damage in East Nashville, Nashville Donelson's neighborhood and in Mt. Juliet, a town about 20 minutes east of Nashville, the National Weather Service said. Communities inside and outside of metro Nashville were devastated. Local Emergency Management needs support coordinating volunteer and non-profit agency responders seeking to help with debris removal.

Cookeville - Putnam County emergency officials confirmed 18 of the 24 Nashville tornado fatalities occurred in this one community. Local Emergency Management needs support coordinating volunteer and non-profit agency responders seeking to help with debris removal.

HOW TO HELP:

Donate: click here  

Volunteer: click here  

Mail: Gift Cards & Checks

We need gift cards and financial donations, desperately:

  • Home Depot and Lowe's cards: for home repair work and debris removal tools

  • Gas cards: to get volunteer teams to and from the disaster sites where homeowners are in need

  • VISA cards: for clients who have extreme financial needs for survival, and for disaster work supplies

  • WalMart cards: to feed volunteer teams, and for clients with extreme financial needs for survival (ex. Pharmacy medications, baby supplies, etc.)

Gift Cards & Checks can be mailed to:

Inspiritus 

Attn: Disaster Response 

P.O. Box 60597 

Nashville, TN 37206

We're so fortunate and grateful to be working closely with our local community partners, especially the SE Synod of the ELCA and Lutheran Disaster Response. As we enter week two, we continue to need your support to keep our teams on the ground and well-equipped to make a difference.

Please consider making a donation, sending us Home Depot and Lowe’s gift cards, hosting a fundraiser on social media, or even signing up to volunteer in the weeks ahead.

To donate, click here and select Nashville 2020 Tornado.

Blessings to all our friends and family in Nashville! 

-Virginia Spencer

Vice President of Development

Inspiritus

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