Local Charities, Nonprofits Receive $607,639 from Preds Foundation

After a record grant total last year, the Nashville Predators Foundation raised the bar by an additional $100,000 in 2018 with its annual distributions reaching more than $600,000, the largest one-time donation in the Foundation's history.
The Foundation handed out 149 grants totaling $607,639.32 to Nashville and Middle Tennessee community service and charitable organizations in the Nissan Atrium inside Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday. That brings the total grant funding to nearly $6 million across 600 organizations in the foundation's 20 years of giving.
"It's a huge celebration for us to have this many people in one room," Predators Senior Director of Community Relations Rebecca King said. "They're doing great things for our community, and we're so appreciative that we can raise money to help their efforts. The people that came here today are the ones in the trenches doing all the hard work and making big changes for our community."

Wednesday's grant distribution is the culmination of a full year of fundraising and charitable giving by the Predators Foundation. That includes money raised through game-day raffles and auctions as well as popular events like the Brent Peterson Golf Classic, the GnashVegas Casino Gala & Auction and the Preds Wine Festival & Tasting.
"The ability to have these funds to support the missions of so many organizations that are trying to do good and help those that are vulnerable and fragile, it's just extraordinary beyond words for the protection and safety of where we live here in Nashville," said Anna Gene O'Neal, president and CEO of grant recipient Alive Hospice, which provides compassionate end-of-life care and bereavement support throughout Middle Tennessee.

This is also the fourth year that the Predators Foundation has partnered with the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT), enabling organizations that received Predators Foundation grants to put their money toward CFMT's The Big Payback. The Big Payback is a 24-hour online giving event that highlights the work of Middle Tennessee nonprofits and hopes to inspire further community-wide giving.
A celebration for The Big Payback immediately followed the Predators Foundation grant distribution on the Bridgestone Arena plaza. The partnership highlights the reach and impact of the Preds on the Nashville community.
"Probably the greatest compliment you can give any organization is because they're here, our community is better," said Brian Sweatt, headmaster for Antioch-based grant recipient Lighthouse Christian School, an organization whose goal is to offer affordable Christ-centered and quality education. "That's really what we see with the Nashville Predators... We are a better community because the Predators are here in Nashville with us."