Brad Paisley and his wife Kimberly Williams-Paisley are opening a new, free grocery store in Nashville where community members in need can shop.
Called “The Store,” the Paisleys were able to start the non-profit with the help of Brad’s alma-mater Belmont University, which provided the land for the project. Set up similarly to a food bank, the supermarket will provide both fresh produce and nonperishables. With the goal of helping people become self sufficient, customers will be able to shop at the store for free for one year.
“This is a grocery store with dignity for people who have fallen on hard times,” Paisley told the Tennessean. “All of us are one unforeseen disaster away from rock bottom. It’s nice to think about a place where when that happens to someone, they can use it to get back on their feet.”
The idea came about when the Paisleys took their kids Huck, 11, and Jasper, 9, to visit a non-profit with similar principles, called the Unity Shoppe in Santa Barbara, California. What was intended to be teach the boys a lesson about helping others ended up inspiring the Paisleys to start a store of their own.
The Store will be located in a neighborhood nearby to Belmont University, and is expected to break ground in 2019.