When you're rich and famous, it's easy to forget about the plight facing those around you.
With a significant amount of wealth, celebrities are able to fixate on having the latest electronic gadgets or wearing the trendiest clothes without a second glance at their bank accounts.
Although this lifestyle can heavily contrast with the ones of the less privileged, a great number of stars are known to pay it forward and change the lives of the less fortunate.
Two of these people are country superstar Brad Paisley and his wife Kimberly Williams-Paisley, as the couple just announced the plan on giving back to their community in the form of a free grocery store.
"This is a grocery store with dignity for people who have fallen on hard times."
Brad and Kimberly have teamed with the "Whiskey Lullaby" singer's alma mater Belmont University to open The Store.
"At Belmont, we believe that the greatest privilege that anyone can ever have is to be in a position to help and serve another person," Belmont University President Dr. Bob Fisher said.
"Brad and Kim are living out that mission in an extraordinary fashion in every aspect of their lives, particularly through the creation of The Store. We are proud to partner with them on this initiative, and I'm excited to watch as our current students pour their gifts and abilities into supporting the needs of The Store's patrons."
The modern food pantry is also teaming up with other organizations such as Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee and will offer both fresh and nonperishable groceries to those in need for one year.
"This is a grocery store with dignity for people who have fallen on hard times," Brad, president of The Store's board of trustees, told the Tennessean.
"All of us are one unforeseen disaster away from rock bottom. It's nice to think about a place where when that happens to someone, they can use it to get back on their feet."
The Store has set an initial goal to serve 3,000 people per year, who will be referred to by nonprofit and government agencies.
"It's not like they've made major mistakes, they just need a little extra help."
But food isn't the only thing people can pick up at The Store.
The organization, who will provide on-the-job training, will also be accepting donations of new, unopened toys throughout the year, and during the holidays, families will be able to pick items up Christmas gifts for their children.
The couple was inspired to start The Store after they took their sons Huck, 11, and Jasper, 9 to volunteer at the Unity Shoppe last Thanksgiving to help them understand how fortunate they are.
"It was inspiring because these people have dignity," Paisley told the newspaper about the Santa, Barbara organization. "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."
The Store will have similar values to the Unity Shoppe - which "encourages self-sufficiency and independence by providing education and the necessities of life to families, children, seniors and persons with disabilities" - and is intended to be a "temporary Band-Aid on the road to self-sufficiency," Williams-Paisley said.
"So many people are making great choices in their lives," she added. "It's not like they've made major mistakes, they just need a little extra help and we want to be a resource for those people."
Located at 2005 12th Ave. S. in Nashville, construction for the nonprofit organization is aimed to begin in 2019 once they've reached their $1.2 million target.
If you wish to donate, visit thestore.org.
[H/T: Tennessean]
