Taylor Swift Donates $1 Million to Hometown for Tornado Relief: “She Has Their Backs”

Taylor Swift may be a megastar amid one of the biggest tours in music ever, but the singer hasn’t forgotten her roots either. When Tennessee experienced a devastating tornado on Saturday, December 9, Swift donated to the disaster relief efforts.

Swift is giving $1 million to aid in the recovery efforts. According to WKRN, Swift is giving the money to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to aid Hendersonville after the storm. Tornadoes caused structural damage throughout the town and left six people dead.

“The Swifts found their original Tennessee home in Hendersonville and Sumner County and remain deeply committed to its continued well-being,” said Hal Cato, CEO of Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. “Taylor’s incredibly generous gift sends a message to her hometown, and the communities around it, that she has their backs during the long road to recovery following this devastating event.”

Before she was touring across the country, Swift attended two years at Hendersonville High School. The town was among several in Tennessee hit by storms on Saturday that devastated these Southern communities. Over a dozen people were injured and multiple buildings were damaged. The tornado traveled along an 11-mile path through the state. Winds reached up to 150 miles per hour.

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Taylor Swift Has a History of Giving

It’s not the first time that Swift has pulled from her own pockets to help Hendersonville. Swift previously helped restore a popular playground in Hendersonville — Kids Kingdom. Flooding had destroyed the playground and plans to restore the playground languished. The town needed $175,000 to rebuild, and Swift ended up donating $100,000 to get the project pushed through.

“We are thrilled that Taylor wanted to support her hometown,” a local said of Swift “It reminds us that this is still a community-built playground.”

Additionally, according to Nashville Scene, Swift has also played a benefactor to her old high school as well. When their auditorium’s lighting and sound stage became outdated, Swift donated $75,000 to the school to renovate them. In response, the school decided to name the auditorium after her.

Outside of Tennessee, Swift has continued to be charitable. As part of her Eras Tour, Swift has donated to food banks at every city she’s stopped in. According to an Arizona foodbank representative (via CNN), Swift allowed the organization to get more than 40,000 pounds of fresh produce for its food banks.

(Photo by Gareth Cattermole/WireImage for Parkwood)