Taylor Swift donated $1 million to Tennessee residents affected by the deadly tornadoes that hit communities on Dec 9.
A barrage of tornadoes and thunderstorms hit regions of northern Tennessee over the weekend, leaving more than 50 injured and multiple buildings destroyed, per reports by CNN. Swift, whose career started in Hendersonville, Tennessee, responded by making a $1 million donation to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, the organization confirmed to Variety. USA Today first reported the news.
“The Swifts found their original Tennessee home in Hendersonville and Sumner County and remain deeply committed to its continued well-being,” said Hal Cato, CEO of Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, in a statement. “Taylor’s incredibly generous gift sends a message to her hometown and the communities around it that she has their backs during the long road to recovery following this devastating event.”
Swift’s donation to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee will provide financial assistance, food, temporary housing, debris clean-up, and animal sheltering to residents.
Parts of Hendersonville and the Nashville-suburb Madison were disrupted by peak winds of 125 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Crews began clearing neighborhoods on Dec. 11 and officials have shelters, food trucks and mobile shower units prepped for residents who need them, Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts told CNN.
Swift made a similar, sizable donation to the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund in 2020 when the state experienced another tornado storm. Earlier this year, Swift also donated to food banks across the United States when traveling for her record-shattering “Eras Tour” which generated an estimated $1.04 billion in gross ticket sales, according to Pollstar.
In the last week, the 33-year-old was named Time’s Person of the Year, which she called the “breakthrough moment” of her career after the “Eras Tour” and its matching, highly successful concert film that pulled in $250 million at the global theatrical box office.
“I’ve been raised up and down the flagpole of public opinion so many times in the last 20 years,” Swift told Time. “I’ve been given a tiara, then had it taken away. It feels like the breakthrough moment of my career, happening at 33. And for the first time in my life, I was mentally tough enough to take what comes with that.”
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