NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Flooded and expected be out of commission for
several months, the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in
Nashville donated thousands of pounds of perishable frozen and
refrigerated food to Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief to assist with
their emergency feeding response to a hundred-year flood that struck
central parts of Tennessee the weekend of May 1-2.
Volunteers set up a field kitchen at Judson Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn. Starting May 7 the unit will begin preparing 10,000 meals a day to be distributed at shelters by the Red Cross.
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William Maxwell, administrative director for the Tennessee Baptist Convention, said disaster-relief volunteers would make sure the donated food — originally purchased by Gaylord for a three-day conference anticipating 1,500 attendees — doesn't go to waste.
"We are very grateful that Opryland thought of Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief when they were looking to distribute this food," Maxwell said May 6. "We are committed to using this food however we can to help out the victims in disaster relief."
Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief's State Feeding Unit arrived May 6 at Nashville's Judson Baptist Church to set up for a feeding operation in partnership with the American Red Cross. More than 10,000 meals per day will be prepared and distributed to shelters spread across several counties to take in families displaced by torrential rains that caused an estimated $1 billion in damages.
Gaylord Opryland Resort, which sits adjacent to the Cumberland River, evacuated about 1,500 guests on the evening of Sunday, May 2. Hours later a FEMA-approved levee on the river — built to withstand the pressure of a 100-year-flood — was breached. Floodwaters inundated the sprawling complex that does about one-fourth of Nashville's convention business and has 12 percent of the city's hotel rooms.
Gaylord officials don't know yet how long it will take to clean up, repair and reopen, but early estimates are between three and six months. Meanwhile, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau worked around the clock to find new locations for numerous events, already scheduled at the hotel, worth millions of tourism dollars to the city.
"It is uplifting to all of our [employees] to be able to give something to the community during this challenging time," Pete Wiein, senior vice president of Gaylord Opryland Resort, said May 3 in a press release announcing the donated food. "The donation adds a little sweet spot to the bitterness that has covered the hotel and the city the past few days."
Carl Lord, a longtime Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteer who drove one of two refrigerated trucks dispatched to pick up the donated items, said the generous donation will help thousands of evacuees and homeless throughout the state. Along with the Nashville unit, the ministry has been asked to set up a second field kitchen in Jackson, Tenn., to serve meals through Red Cross Shelters in the western portion of the state.
"Making something good out of a natural disaster is what makes this world go around,” said Lord, a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Lenoir City, Tenn.
Maxwell said the trucks contain a wide assortment of foods. There are a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, some sandwich meats and cheese, and even some high-end products such as lobster and shrimp. Meal preparation is set to begin early in the morning on May 7 and will continue indefinitely.
"While we have some pre-set menus of more basic meals such as beef stew, chicken and dumplings, turkey and ravioli, we'll certainly figure how to use the donated food," Maxwell said.
"Of course, I’m not sure some of our cooks have ever seen a lobster," he added jokingly. "This will be a real treat."
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.