Week 4-5

Wednesday was my first day back in the office since making the journey to Manchester, TN for the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.

It was definitely one of the most interesting experiences I’ve ever had. We left last Wednesday morning to set up our campsite and booth focusing on skin cancer prevention and awareness. Our RV, Shamrock, would be our home until Monday. 

We got to the Bonnaroo site at the hottest time of the entire week, and we knew that this fun trip would also be hard work in the heat.  I was able to meet and get to know the girls from the New York and Los Angeles offices, and we would end up having a great time together. We got situated with our living arrangements and decided to get some dinner from the concession-style area by our campsite. After a quick bite, we went back to the RV to get some sleep before our busy first day.

Thursday morning, we set up our booth in Planetroo and were ready to greet the 100,000 patrons at the festival.

Planetroo - Bonnaroo's non-profit village

We were received well, and most people loved that we were giving away free sunscreen. We found many people that had left their sunscreen at their campsite and just didn’t want to take the time to go back and get it. We became known as “the sunscreen tent” and had people coming into Planetroo asking about us. Thankfully, Beyond Coastal Sun Care and Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen provided us with great products that even the most eco-conscious festival-goers were willing to use.

Beyond Coastal Sun Care

Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen

There were a wide variety of booths in Planetroo, including the Clan Destiny Circus next door. Whenever we weren’t talking to people or handing out sunscreen, this was our source of entertainment. All day and night, the performers would alternate between the slack-rope, crystal ball, and acro-yoga. It was strange at first, but we definitely became intrigued with our circus neighbors.

Clan Destiny Circus performers doing Acro-Yoga in Planetroo

It took a while for us city-girls to get acclimated with life on the farm, but by Friday we were pros. Ebony from the Los Angeles office had arrived, and we began to start taking shifts so that we could take turns going to some of the concerts we wanted to see. Some of the shows I was able to see while we were there were Passion Pit, The Lumineers, Jack Johnson, R Kelly, Macklemore, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

Liz (NY), Ebony (LA), Allyson and Ellen (Nashville)

R Kelly at the Which Stage

Macklemore at the What Stage

Sunday, we held our Skin Cancer Awareness workshop at the Academy. Sandeep Kapoor, M.D., Medical Director/Co-Founder of the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund flew out to lead the workshop. We had a great turnout with many people eager to ask questions. The workshop focused on prevention, detection, and when to seek advice from a doctor. 

Dr. Sandeep Kapoor with Beyond Coastal Sun Care

Dr. Kapoor's workshop at the Academy in Planetroo

Our presence at Bonnaroo not only helped spread skin cancer awareness and prevention, but it also allowed festival-goers to learn all about the T.J. Martell Foundation.

Week 3

It's the middle of my third week as an intern for the T.J. Martell Foundation in Nashville, TN. I’ve already learned and experienced so many new things and am beyond thankful to be able to work for such an amazing organization. We’ve been working hard to prep for our time at Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, TN and our four-day, three-night Country on the Beach event in Key West, FL.

We will be hosting a booth in PlanetRoo, Bonnaroo’s nonprofit village.

Our booth will feature life-saving skin cancer prevention and detection information and teach patrons about the dangers of sun damage. We will also have a workshop from Sandeep Kapoor, MD, Co-founder/Medical Director of the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. Because we are trying to prevent sun damage for Bonnaroo’s attendees, we wanted to have as many sunscreen samples as possible to hand out. I was tasked with cold-calling many smaller sunscreen manufacturers to see if they would be willing to donate to our cause. I was able to secure donations from both Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen and Beyond Coastal Sun Care.

   

We leave for Bonnaroo on Tuesday, and I’m excited to see what’s in store!

Yesterday morning, I had the privilege of touring the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; specifically the Preston Research Building, named after the T.J. Martell Foundation's former president. We were able to tour the facilities with the parents of a young woman, Lindsay Walleman, who recently lost her under-three-month battle with sarcoma. Lindsay was the Regional Promotion Manager at Warner Music Nashville and was loved and admired by so many in the country music industry.

 It was heartbreaking, but inspirational, seeing where the money from their daughter’s foundation, FTL, would go directly into Vanderbilt’s research.

To learn more about Lindsay or to make an online contribution, please visit :
http://tjmartell.myetap.org/fundraiser/ftl/

Yesterday afternoon, we had our first event during my time with the foundation: The Craig Campbell Celebrity Cornhole Challenge. This event featured a cornhole competition between artists Craig Campbell, Gloriana, Jerrod Niemann, Love and Theft, among others. The event was in Public Square Park in downtown Nashville and proceeds went to the T.J. Martell Foundation benefiting colon cancer research. After the tournament, many of the competing artists took the stage to sing.

We were fortunate to have beautiful weather for the event and a great turnout. We held a raffle and a silent auction, and we were able to raise thousands more towards colon cancer research.

Silent Auction Item:
 Guitar signed by artists at event
+ Gretchen Wilson and Pistol Annies

View from VIP area at Public Square Park in Downtown Nashville

 We’ve had a busy week so far at the T.J. Martell Foundation and are looking forward to an even busier week next week, as we leave for Bonnaroo on Tuesday.