Vince Gill and Amy Grant Named ‘Tennesseans of the Year’
Vince Gill and Amy Grant have been named “2011 Tennesseans of the Year” by Nashville’s newspaper, The Tennessean. Gill and Grant were recognized for their years of charity work with organizations such as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the American Red Cross and the Mental Health Association of Middle Tennessee.
“Amy Grant and Vince Gill not only make a meaningful impact on the global stage through their music, but their philanthropy also helps people throughout Tennessee,” The Tennessean editorial board noted while making their decision.
This isn’t the first time Vince and Amy have been recognized for their charitable efforts. Earlier this year, they received the 18th annual Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award from the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
“I’m proud to be a part of that [philanthropic] community,” Gill says. “I’m proud that there’s a whole side of Nashville that doesn’t have anything to do with music at all that likes us. Nashville, it’s my hometown. It has a giving personality, and for a lot of people, [serving others] is a way of life.”
The Community Foundation President Ellen Lehman says the couple does charity work with “the purest motivations.”
“They are not in it for credit; they’re not in it for fame; they’re not in it for what it can do for their careers,” Lehman said. “They’re grateful for the lives they have and want others to have better futures.”
