Musically Fed, World Central Kitchen, Second Harvest Aid 100 Nashville-Area Families

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Musically Fed/World Central Kitchen volunteers gather at Bandit Lites to distribute food to 100 families. Photo: Thaddeus McAdams

Musically Fed, World Central Kitchen and Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee partnered with Rhino Staging to deliver boxes of food to 100 families on Saturday (Oct. 24). The drive-thru event focused on families who work in the live entertainment, touring and concert industries whose businesses have virtually been shut down since March.

“Live music literally shut down overnight, and there is no indication when tours and concerts will be back up and running on a large scale,” said Maria Brunner, founder of Musically Fed and whose own Insight Management contracts with live entertainment for tour marketing. “There is so much need among touring crews, musicians and related vendors in the Nashville entertainment community, and we are so honored that chef Jose Andres and the World Central Kitchen have selected Musically Fed as a partner for food distributions. We are grateful to Clair Global and Bandit Lites for hosting our events and to Second Harvest for providing produce and dry goods to supplement the meals for World Central Kitchen.”

Twice a month through the end of November and every week in December, 100 boxes of dry goods and fresh produce will be prepared by Dega Food Restaurant Group on behalf of World Central Kitchen. Qualifying families must work in the live entertainment industry and are vetted through a phone interview to ensure they are unemployed, underemployed or have lost SNAP.

Musically Fed was founded in Phoenix to donate unused backstage catering food from concerts and festivals to food banks, shelters and agencies comprised of at least 50% veterans.

In 2016, thanks to Terry Burke from Live Nation, Mitch Katz of Arizona Catering, Ralph Marchetta the GM of Talking Stick Arena, and the members and crew of U2, the organization’s first effort enabled them to provide over 300 meals to outreach programs in the Phoenix community. Two weeks later, the Louis Messina Group, Kenny Chesney, and Tour Cats repurposed leftover catering in every city on Chesney’s tour to select nonprofits in need.

Through their generosity, Musically Fed learned how to implement its mission in cities across the nation.

In 2016, the Zac Brown Band and Fleetwood Mac invited Musically Fed on their national tours to feed the homeless, hungry and food insecure throughout America.

When COVID-19 essentially shut down touring nationwide, Musically Fed began organizing food drives in music hubs like Nashville, Atlanta, Denver, Minneapolis, Phoenix and San Diego to provide relief to those who make a living in live entertainment.

Jessica Nicholson
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