Couple wants wedding gifts to help combat hunger
NASHVILLE — Jacob Weiss and Joy Teal don't want wine glasses from Macy's or a new blender from Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Instead, they want to address hunger in Nashville.
The couple, who will wed later this month, have asked guests to skip traditional presents and donate instead to a fund they set up with the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
With a goal of raising $10,000, Weiss and Teal plan to provide micro-grants to local nonprofits and social entrepreneurs who may have big ideas but are not big enough to get backing from larger corporate donors.
"It's really a gift to us because it's giving us an opportunity to be involved in a cause we care about in a way we haven't been able to before," Weiss said.
Teal fell in love with her fiancé because of words like that.
Hunger is an issue that can be misunderstood, she said. So often we think of the faces of starving children in distant, poverty-stricken nations, not realizing that families in our own cities face similar hardship.
An estimated 49 million Americans are food insecure — including more than 1 million Tennesseans, according to the domestic hunger relief organization Feeding America. Poverty, underemployment and hunger remain here in spite of the city's growth, and 1 in 5 Nashville residents live in a food desert without access to grocery stores, healthy food and fresh produce.
Some children get meals only from the school lunch program. Some parents have cupboards stocked with nutritionally deficient food because no nearby markets sell affordable fruits and vegetables. Some families struggle to put dinner on the table.
"We want to know what's out there that can complement and add to that," Weiss said.
Weiss is a professional juggler and runs several social entrepreneurial efforts, including Playing By Air, a corporate entertainment company that provides free community performances supported by corporate event and conference appearances. Teal works on brand management and cause-related marketing.
The couple connected through their shared passion for community building and organizing creative events.
Not long after they started dating, Teal brought up someday wanting to do a charity registry at her wedding. Weiss immediately was in favor.
"That's what made me want to marry this man," she said, hugging his arm.
They hope that their wedding guests and others will support the cause, which has raised more than $7,500 so far.
"I can't think of any better way to start our relationship together than in celebration of ..." Teal pauses for a moment, choking up at the words.
Weiss finishes for her: "... what we care about."
Follow Jessica Bliss on Twitter @jlbliss