UPDATE: Jo Dee Messina has raised $30,000 for Harvest Hands Community Development Corporation from her free live and online concerts, Tonic Reports. She will be singing for another cause, the Montessori School of Franklin on December 10.
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Jo Dee Messina, is a country singer with a big heart. She's been actively raised money and awareness for organizations like St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital and the Special Olympics. But on Dec. 5, Messina is pitching in to help the tiny church organization Harvest Hands, Tonic Reports.
Harvest Hands is a Community Development Corporation determined to improve the inner-city neighborhood of South Nashville. The singer was moved by the organization's efforts to teach children and adults practical skills to improve their lives and the decision of Harvest Hands' director and his wife to live in the inner-city neighborhood they serve:
"These people have committed to at least a 15-year plan to live there," Messina says of the organization, "and they're hoping that the generation they're taking care of now will grow up and reinvest in their own community in that area. It's real dedication."
Messina's holiday concert at the Brentwood United Methodist Church in Nashville is free, and the concert will also be streamed live on her Web site and at Ustream.com. Messina hopes that fans who attend the concert will make a donation to Harvest Hands.
Read the full exclusive interview on with Messina at Tonic.com.