Brad Paisley, Kimberly Williams-Paisley create toy store to help families in need

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Country music superstar Brad Paisley is making sure families who need it most have a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday.

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Paisley and his wife, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley, allowed families to shop at The Store, to select gifts for their children for free.

The Store was stocked with new toys, video games, scooters, clothes, makeup and even musical instruments, The Associated Press reported.

“The emotional aspect of being able to give your child something your child wanted versus just something to sort of get you through the holidays, that’s such a load off the minds of somebody who maybe didn’t think they were going to be able to do that,” Paisley told the AP.

The celebrity couple opened The Store as a free grocery store in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2020 to allow people to choose their food at no cost in a normal shopping setting.

The Store opened days after a tornado hit the region and only a few days before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the country down, causing people to have a difficult time getting the food and supplies they needed.

The staff started delivering food for older people. In the first year, the organization of volunteers delivered millions of meals.

Not everyone can go to The Store. There is an enrollment process, and those who qualify must have a total annual household income of 200% or below the federal poverty line.

For a family of four, the poverty line for 2023 was $30,000, according to Healthcare.gov. To qualify for The Store, a family of four can make up to $60,000 a year.

The Store serves more than 350 families every month, according to Paisley’s website.

The Paisleys said they would like to help more.

“We’re still not serving everybody that we want to serve. Food insecurity is on the rise. The USDA just released its report saying 17 million households in this country are facing food insecurity and that’s on the rise from 2021,” Williams-Paisley told the AP. “There’s so much we want to do. And really like the toy store has shown us that we can keep going and we can keep expanding and growing.”

If you would like to support The Store, the organization accepts monetary donations. It also has an Amazon Wish List.

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Paisley Free Toy Store Brad Paisley, left, and Kimberly Williams-Paisley pose for a picture at The Toy Store, a free-referral based toy store Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. The couple co-founded the facility, and they also also started The Store, a free-referral based grocery store they opened in partnership with Belmont University in March 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) (Mark Humphrey/AP)

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