Loretta Lynn flood relief benefit concert approaches $1 million

Loretta Lynn’s Friends: Hometown Rising draws $933k and counting in donations

As many of the artists – from Garth Brooks to Reba McEntire and Keith Urban – put it Monday night, September 13th, at Loretta Lynn’s Friends: Hometown Rising, “when Loretta calls, you can’t say no.” And the country music community showed up. With the call for donations still underway via text-to-donate — text TNFLOODRELIEF to 44321 — and everything from auction items to longstanding partners like MX Sports and the Academy of Country Music, who had recently honored Lynn with their prestigious Poet’s Award, it took a few days for the excitement to settle and the efforts Loretta Lynn led to be tallied, but it was worth the wait.

Lynn’s rallying call resulted in nearly $1 million raised for Humphreys County following the August 21st disaster that killed 20 during severe storms and extreme flash floods and left more than 500 homes affected by floodwaters, including 272 that were totally destroyed. The $933,000 and counting in donations and concert proceeds will directly benefit the residents of Waverly and surrounding areas, as well as local small business.

“I’ve heard from so many friends that the show Monday night that my friends put together for our community not only raised money, but it also raised spirits after a long few weeks of loss and heartbreak,” Lynn shares from her home in Hurricane Mills, TN. “I loved the performances and the stories. While we shared some heartbreaking images and footage from our hometown, what I saw in those moments was the resilience people have shown amid so much loss. We’ll all be okay as long as we continue to help one another.”

As previously shared, Breland, Brooks with Trisha Yearwood, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Chris Janson, Little Big Town, McEntire, Brittney Spencer and Urban held a two-hour benefit concert and donation drive on Monday night at the Grand Ole Opry House with hosts Storme Warren and Nada leading the in-house sold out crowd and broadcast/livestream audience through a heartfelt evening of powerful messages, performances and a few Opry stage debuts with Breland and surprise special guest Nicole Kidman.

In addition to the artists on stage at the Grand Ole Opry House, the program also featured recorded appearances from several other country stars, as Tracy Lawrence, Carly Pearce, Thomas Rhett, Kid Rock, Darius Rucker and Carrie Underwood called on fans to support the important recovery work being done by United Way of Humphreys County. Several major donations were also announced during the evening, with City National Bank and Lawrence’s “Mission: Possible” charity both contributing and the Academy of Country Music matching $25,000 of fan donations in honor of Lynn being named one of this year’s ACM Poet’s Award recipients at the recent ACM Honors.

“And we’re so thankful for our good friends of more than 40 years, MX Sports, who’ve held motocross events at the Ranch and came to our aid through their Racers 4 Waverly Fund,” Lynn adds. “I’m simply overwhelmed by how everyone rallied behind this small town by showing so much love.”

“With the funds raised this week, the United Way of Humphreys County will be able to release more checks to not only individuals but also small businesses that have been displaced since August 21,” shares Nioka Curtis with United Way. “As soon as I had said a little prayer that we’d be able to help small businesses in addition to families, within this last week that prayer has been answered.”

In an effort to continue fundraising throughout the coming weeks, Lynn has also partnered with Kendra Scott to garner additional support for the cause, with the jewelry company donating 50% of proceeds from the sale of their Tennessee Guitar charm throughout the month of September to United Way of Humphreys County. The charm is available for purchase at KendraScott.com or in retail locations.

Commemorative show posters from the evening are also available for purchase, while supplies last, via the Opry’s online shop with proceeds benefitting the cause.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com