Photo by Eric England, Nashville SceneIt goes without saying that the tornado that hit Germantown, East Nashville, Donelson and accompanying counties around Davidson was devastating. Twenty-Five individuals lost their lives, many beloved businesses have closed indefinitely and, frankly, everyone feels a bit distraught and vulnerable.
Having been a Nashville resident for most of my life, I experienced the Christmas Tornado of 1988, the Downtown Tornado of 1998, the Flood of 2010 and several more in between. That’s not to say that Tennessee is an unnaturally chaotic place but it is a reminder that have experienced chaos like this before and survived. After the 2020 Tornado, I spent the entire next day helping a friend clear his house of three gigantic downed trees that took a chunk off his roof off. Throughout the day, neighbors came by to help pick up debris, brought their own equipment to help chainsaw down limbs and strangers brought by water and snacks. This community upheaval is emblematic of the good that can be done when people come together to help out.
As a podcast network, we aren’t exactly the Go To source for helpful information. Fortunately, we have publications like The Nashville Scene that are providing great resources of links and insights on how to help. Give money to the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund or volunteer yourself with HandsOn Nashville. Contribute to one of many numerous fundraisers; such as the Heartstrings helping Service Industry or 37206 Service Industry GoFundMe. Find multiple opportunities to help Germantown and surrounding communities. I also suggest following #NashvilleTornado hashtags to keep aware of new opportunities to contribute.
Any contribution helps. Contributions to general funds, contribution to specific needs, canned goods, food, volunteer work – everything is helpful. If you can only do one; do one. If you can do more; do more. Keep in mind that while East Nashville is getting a lot of coverage, there are also many communities outside of that equally in need. We can rebuild and restore. It will take time but we’ll get Nashville back to a sense of normalcy. We always have.