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.