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The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee

The foundation is dedicated to enriching the quality of life in Middle Tennessee.
www.cfmt.org

The Metro Nashville Disaster Response Fund

The collaboration between the Metropolitan Nashville Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee began nearly a decade ago. The area's community leaders had experienced natural disaster in 1998 and an influx of disaster-related donations; they wanted to plan ahead and find a better way to manage and streamline donations, particularly the stewardship and deployment of cash contributions. In 2002, the community foundation entered into a memorandum of understanding with OEM to serve as the lead agency to receive and manage non-designated cash contributions through its Metro Nashville Disaster Response Fund during times of disaster.

On May 1, 2010, Middle Tennessee experienced the worst flooding in more than a thousand years. The flood claimed 19 lives, caused an estimated $2 billion in damage, and left thousands displaced from their homes. Following the disaster, the Metro Nashville Disaster Response Fund raised nearly $4 million in contributions and helped leverage gifts to additional community foundation flood relief funds totaling $15 million. These gifts came from more than 20,000 individual donations.

Grants from these funds have allowed nonprofit grantees to rebuild 500 homes, handle ongoing case management of flood victims, provide more than 1,000 pieces of furniture and bedding, offer mortgage and rental assistance to hundreds of flood victims, remove more than 143 tons of debris from our waterways, and more.