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Brad Paisley, Kimberly Williams-Paisley start free grocery store to help people in need

By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Singer-songwriter Brad Paisley and actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley attend ACM Lifting Lives featuring Little Big Town hosted and underwritten by Johnathon Arndt and Newman Arndt. (Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Academy of Country Music)

By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

One of the biggest names in country music is taking a step to help those who are in need.

Brad Paisley and his wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley have opened a grocery store that will provide food to those in need for free, The Tennessean reported.

Called The Store, it is a new take on the traditional food pantry, in the fact that it is set up like a grocery store.

The Store will give individuals and families who are referred by either nonprofit or government agencies, free food for a year. Organizers hope to help 3,000 people each year, The Tennessean reported.

The idea of The Store came from the Unity Shoppe in Santa Barbara, California. The Paisleys took their sons to the shop to volunteer and help those who are less fortunate. And while they intended to teach their sons about helping others, the entire family was changed, The Tennessean reported.

"It was inspiring because these people have dignity. It's not a scene from 'Oliver Twist.' These people are able to sit there and  feel very, very normal in the eyes of their kids. I remember ... thinking, 'Why isn't this everywhere?' Essentially, we got this idea that it could be a very effective thing in Nashville," Paisley told the paper.

But The Store, which will be in a partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee and located near Belmont University’s Ministry Center,  will not just be for groceries. For the holidays, there will be a toy aisle, filled with new, unopened toys that families can shop for to put under the Christmas tree.

Construction of The Store is expected to begin next year, but it is dependent on funding. It will cost about $500,000 before ground is broken, with the total construction to cost about $1.2 million with an additional $800,000 two-year operating fund.

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