This time of the year is all about loving one another and doing all you can to make sure everyone has a wonderful holiday season. That is exactly what Brad Paisley and his wife are doing and the way they are doing it is pretty amazing.
The couple, who live in Nashville, TN., are opening a grocery store that will not require the shoppers to pay for their groceries after they are done shopping. The project is being called “The Store” and it is the Paisleys way of helping to lessen the load for those that are having financial troubles.
“I’m very proud of it,” Paisley said. “It’s a charity that my wife and I and a bunch of other business leaders in Nashville have decided to build here, which is based on one that I saw in Santa Barbara that is essentially a grocery store where if you qualify for it, a certain amount of trips a year are free.”
While there are many charitable organizations that help to feed those that are struggling, The Store will provide something many of them don’t: Dignity.
“You have this 1-year-old kid that’s everything to you, and if you lost your job and maybe had some medical bills that are unforeseen, the first thing to go wouldn’t be your car or your house … food would be the type of thing that you start to have trouble with and you’re scraping for,” Paisley said.
“The last thing you want to do is to take [your son] and go to the back of a truck where they’re handing out [food] or a soup kitchen. The last thing you want your son to see or feel is the angst of that.”
The Store will be situated next to Paisley’s old college Belmont University so that to encourage students to volunteer and help out in their community.
“These kids who go to Belmont are going to have to go help. Imagine, though, if you can impress on somebody the importance of helping people like that in college. It can change their whole path,” Paisley said.
The Store will break ground in Nashville in 2019.
