Elizabeth Langgle-Martin, Community Engagement Manager at The Nashville Food Project in Nashville, TN, discusses the programs and services at The Nashville Food Project.

Nashville Food Project brings people together to grow, cook and share nourishing food, with the goals of cultivating community and alleviating hunger in our city.

On today's episode we discuss:

• What about food brings people together?
• Is there actually a food shortage?
• The effects of COVID-19 on food industry in Nashville
• Community food security
• Food recovery
• Food and social justice
• What life skills people learn by growing and cooking their own food

For more information on the Nashville Food Project, visit thenashvillefoodproject.org.

To hear more episodes like this, visit our website at https://www.musiccitygiving.co/.

Partner organizations referenced on this episode:

• Open Table Nashville
• YWCA
• Workers' Dignity
• Gideon's Army
• Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC)
• Meals on Wheels
• Legacy Mission Village
• Nashville Homeless Impact Division

Tara Hamilton, Director of Development & Community Engagement at Thistle Farms in Nashville, TN, discusses the programs, services, and products offered by Thistle Farms.

Thistle Farms is a nonprofit social enterprise dedicated to helping women survivors recover and heal from prostitution, trafficking, and addiction. They do this by providing a safe place to live, a meaningful job, and a lifelong sisterhood of support.

For more information on the Thistle Farms, visit https://thistlefarms.org/.

To hear more episodes like this, visit our website at https://www.musiccitygiving.co/.

On this episode of Music City Giving, we speak to Stefan Speligene, Karen Hall, Lauren Weiss and Lianna Schroeder of Food for Thought, a foundation created by roux. We discuss the importance of food education, the use of community gardens throughout Nashville and the valuable skills that kids can learn in the kitchen.

In our food-centric corner of the world, where hot chicken, bar-b-que and meat and threes are on every corner, it may be shocking to know that 1-in-5 children struggle with hunger, and approximately 285,000 kids lack the proper nutrition from the foods available to them. Food for Thought strives to teach kids about good food, how to prepare it and how to make sure kids have plenty of it.

For more information on Food for Thought, visit their website at https://rouxllc.com/causes/.

To hear more episodes of Music City Giving, visit our website at https://www.musiccitygiving.co/.

Nonprofits exist in a world of generosity. They rely on donors and volunteers to give their time and money so they can put effort towards a specific cause to help a specific group of people with a specific need. Without generous people, nonprofits simply can’t exist.

We also live in a world driven by technology. Most don’t go an hour without checking email, replying to a text or doing a Google search. So what happens when you combine technology with the generosity of donors? You get Generous...an online tool that makes it easier to be generous.

On this episode of Music City Giving, we speak to Nirant Gupta, Chief Product Officer of Generous. Nirant discusses bundled giving, local nonprofits, entrepreneurship, working for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, working in the education sector and working with Nashville's nonprofit leaders.

Generous is a Nashville-based online donation platform that helps donors discover personalized nonprofit recommendations with:

• Personalized giving recommendations
• Matching donations
• Cause-based giving bundles
• Emergency response needs

The platform is secure and easy to use and allows users to donate to hundreds of non-profits from one, privacy-protected account.

For more information on Generous, visit their website at https://joingenerous.com/.

To hear more episodes of Music City Giving, visit our website at https://www.musiccitygiving.co/.

Sara Beth Myers (Founder and Board Chair) and Ashley Shults (Vice President) of AWAKE in Nashville, TN, discuss the programs and services offered by AWAKE.

AWAKE launched in 2013 as and focuses on the advancement of women and kids through education and policy change. Since 2013, through their volunteer advocacy work, AWAKE has passed eight pieces of legislation and has had a significant impact on the health and safety of thousands of women and children living in Tennessee. Their approach is simple. They are action-oriented, incredibly strategic and bipartisan.

For more information on the AWAKE, visit https://www.awaketn.org/.

To hear more episodes like this, visit our website at https://www.musiccitygiving.co/.

Mark Weller, Director of Development at Rocketown in Nashville, TN, discusses kids, the outdoors, his first rave, and the programs and services offered by Rocketown.

Rocketown is a faith based youth outreach facility in the heart of Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Rocketown engages youth through attraction-based facilities and programs, such as the Sixth Avenue Skatepark, live music and concert venues, coffee & snack bar and afterschool academic enrichment and creative arts programs.

Mark has made a career in the nonprofit sector, working with the YMCA Camp Lakewook in Potosi, Missouri, YMCA Camp Widjiwagan in Nashville and Friends of Warner Parks in Nashville.

Mark has dedicated his career to working with kids, noting that "there's no better investment that a person can make than an investment in the life of a child."

For more information on the Rocketown, visit https://www.rocketown.com/.

To hear more episodes like this, visit our website at https://www.musiccitygiving.co/.

Ellen Crosby, Executive Director of the Nashville Dolphins, discusses swimming, growing up with brothers, being a twin, and her role with the Nashville Dolphins.

For more information on the Nashville Dolphins, visit http://nashvilledolphins.org/.

To hear more episodes like this, visit our website at https://www.musiccitygiving.co/.

Welcome to Music City Giving, a show about the unsung leaders and volunteers behind Nashville's nonprofits, foundations and charitable organizations.