On Thursday evening (March 5), CMT partnered with the American Red Cross and WSMV News4 for the Rebuilding Nashville Telethon that raised funds for those affected by the deadly tornadoes that hit the Nashville area earlier this week. Donations are still being encouraged and accepted at rdcrss.org/cmt.
Some of country music’s biggest stars including Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, Kid Rock, Travis Denning, Devin Dawson, Blanco Brown, Cassadee Pope, Gavin DeGraw, Kalie Shorr, Sam Palladio, Sarah Darling, Whitney Duncan and more joined CMT’s Cody Alan and WSMV’s Tom Reynolds live from the CMT Studios in Nashville to answer phones, share personal stories and encourage support of relief efforts in Middle Tennessee.
In the first 30 minutes, the telethon raised more than $100,000 through phone donations alone. And by the time the WSMV News4 broadcast ended at 7:30 p.m. CT, approximately $385,000 had been raised. Donations came from people all over the country giving what they could, and businesses in and around Nashville making some very generous donations.
Some of those included:
$100,000 from Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta
$75,000 from Smile Direct Club
$50,000 from Kid Rock Foundation
$25,000 from CoreCivic