Nashville’s The Store offering free toys for families in need this holiday season

Katelyn Quisenberry
·2 min read
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Store, a year-round free-referral-based grocery store co-founded by country music artist Brad Paisley and his wife, Kimberly, is hosting its first-ever toy store.

The event will be serving 400 children in 25 referral agencies from Friday to Saturday. Some of Nashville’s low-income families will receive 800 gifts, ranging from volleyballs, shoes, Legos, and guitars. After a parent or family member has picked a gift, it will be wrapped and ready to go under the tree.

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At the time of the interview on Friday morning, volunteers had already wrapped 50 to 60 presents, specifically picked out by the kids in their letters to Santa and mailed through The Store.

“Their faces light up, and I see them start pointing at the gifts because we did it,” CEO of The Store, Collen Mayer, said. “We were able to kind of bring forth the gifts that they wanted.”

Several local and national sponsors made the Store’s first-ever toy store a reality. One sponsor for the event says some of the kids being served this holiday have lost their parents or were uninjured in the line of duty.

“It’s really important where first responders can show up, and they are showing up on a good day,” Joanna Black with the First Responders Children Foundation said. “And what better day than a day like today where they can come closer to the community.”

Black also said seeing families from theirs and other programs have enough for the holidays is what this time of year is all about.

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“You know when you see the magic happening within these four walls,” Black said. “It goes beyond that. It goes beyond the walls here and brings it into the homes and to the families.”

The CEO of The Store told News 2 that they will be growing their resources next year to provide more food year-round and come December- more toys for Nashvillians.

The holiday magic continues Saturday with Santa Claus stopping by the Store.

To donate, you can visit The Store’s website.

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