NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Metro Councilwoman wants answers from the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
This comes on the heels of a NewsChannel 5 investigation that raised questions about how the Community Foundation has handled the public's donations after disasters.
Councilwoman Courtney Johnston Tuesday afternoon asked the Metro Audit Committee to conduct an audit of all of the money collected and distributed by the Community Foundation after the 2010 flood, the 2020 tornadoes, the Christmas Day bombing and the 2021 flood in South Nashville.
As she made her case before the committee, Johnston said, "What did that money go to? And I think we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our community, to people who have donated money. A lot of people don't have a lot of money to give but they wanted to give to support their community. So we owe them that transparency and accountability, be we also owe it to all of the people that are in need and that are still in need."
Earlier this year, NewsChannel 5 Investigates exposed how the Community Foundation had not tracked nor could it account for more than $8 million in donations that it gave out after the March 2020 tornadoes.
Johnston said she herself has asked the Community Foundation for information on how the money was used and said "the lack of response" has been "disturbing."
Metro has had a longstanding agreement with the foundation to collect and disburse donations on behalf of the city after disasters.
The Audit Committee voted to give the Community Foundation the option of hiring an outside company to do a complete audit or having the city do it.
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