At the Council meeting on Thursday night, there were some questions from Council Member Delishia Porterfield and others about how and where the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT) will spend tornado donations. When she asked about it, there wasn’t anyone in the Council chamber who knew the answers. Here are some details:

The 2012 MOU between Metro and the CFMT is here. 

You should know these basic terms:

• The funds are supposed to be distributed to “benefit local disaster victims through local nonprofit organizations, religious institutions, and entities of government.”

• The CFMT is supposed to “manage the distribution of monetary donations” to these groups “based on need…”

• The CFMT is supposed to facilitate meetings of the “Metro Disaster Response Fund Advisory Committee.”

• The CFMT is supposed to “Participate in the Long-term Recovery and/or Unmet Needs Committee and act as a resource, when possible.”

At this time, I don’t know who the members of the Metro Disaster Response Fund Advisory Committee are, or who are the members of the Long-term Recovery and/or Unmet Needs Committee are? I don’t know who appoints those groups.

Also, it is important to understand that CFMT is NOT obligated to spend the dollars it is receiving in Davidson County. For some donors with a regional reach (like the Titans maybe??), this might be perfect. For other donors, you should be aware that dollars given to CFMT may or may not be spent in Nashville.

CFMT is an incredibly important civic organization. I am grateful that they are helping in this time when so many are hurting. I do think it is important that everyone understands how the process works. There is still more for us to learn.