-Daryell Smith
On Saturday Oct. 3, Leatherwood Distillery in Pleasant View held their first music festival supporting veterans as the One Tennessee Foundation.
The public was invited to enjoy beverages, barbecue, and live entertainment provided by Hailey Verhaalen, Steven Cade, and Justin Love. There was also a silent auction with numerous items from area merchants to show support for the fundraiser held to support homeless veterans.
Leatherwood owner, Andrew Lang, began the business three years ago. Lang stated that immediately after opening he began working with the Green Beret FF Chapter 38 and about six months ago, they began discussing doing another organization--the One Tennessee Foundation.
He said, “Our focus right now is Tennessee, but hopefully it builds up and becomes nationwide, but right now we are working on caring for homeless veterans in Tennessee.”
He added that they are providing assistance in any aspect needed. "We are hoping to raise enough funds to start building homes, Dickey’s Barbecue in Clarksville is going to be donating meals during Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we are partnering with other non-profit organizations."
His business partner, Rob Tiede, added, “We felt compelled and we are compassionate about what we are doing, so we formed One Tennessee Foundation, a 501c3. Our mission right now is veterans in distress and their families in hardships across Tennessee. Hopefully that will morph into a nationwide campaign for us. It is not limited to homelessness, which is our focus today, but it will contribute to folks suffering from PTSD, substance abuse, injured and wounded who need a ramp built for their home, whatever the need might be.”
He added, “Ultimately what we are trying to do is develop a professionally managed endowment fund which will be self-sustaining and then we can regenerate and redeploy the capitol into the field to make a difference. In that way, if we can actually establish an area off campus where veterans or families across the state could come or contact us when there is a need that would be an ultimate dream for us."
For more information, visit onetennesseefoundation.org.
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