by Madeline Smith | Apr 10, 2015 | News Slider
The men’s social club Sigma Iota Delta brought live music and goats for the first ever Goatfest that was held on the quad Thursday night. The event had students performing, a moon bounce, Nine Square, food and even a mini petting zoo. “I think it’s great,” said senior William Officer. “It’s different from most Lipscomb events. It’s a very chill atmosphere.” Several students said they liked the music-festival like atmosphere, but there was more than just what met the eye. “Not only is it fun but we’re also raising money for a great cause,” said Colton Whiteside, a SID member and Lipscomb senior. That great cause is Open Table Nashville, a local non-profit organization that disrupts cycles of poverty, works with the marginalized and provides education on homelessness. Open Table has had a Southern cooking and music festival on campus for the last four years. The money raised at these events has helped feed homeless people as well as help educate the community about the homeless population. This is a new way for the non-profit to raise money on campus. Goatfest doubled as the club’s philanthropy event, raising $1,700 and it also served as a drug and alcohol awareness event. To raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving, SID hosted several Nashville Police officers that brought along fatal vision goggles to do field sobriety tests on students. The goggles simulate different levels of inebriation and show how alcohol affects vision. “Drunk drivers are everywhere,” Officer Jerry Bell said. “It’ll get you kicked out of school, it costs about $5,000, you lose your license and you can serve...
by Erin Turner | Feb 19, 2015 | News Slider
As Nashville’s winter weather has hit its ultimate lows, the homeless community has been struck with even more adversity — but that’s nothing Green Street Church of Christ and Open Table Nashville can’t help diminish. “It’s really heart-wrenching to see the amount of suffering that there is in our own city — in our own backyard — when we’re so warm,” said Lindsey Krinks, Director of Street Chaplaincy and Education of Open Table Nashville. Wednesday night the temperature plummeted into the negatives, but organizations like Open Table and Green Street alleviated a lot of the suffering. But even with all of Nashville’s warm shelters, Krinks said the city has already seen six exposure-related deaths in the homeless community this winter. “In the last couple of days I’ve tended for four people with frost-bitten feet and we’re finding so many people out still,” she said. Krinks said the need is overwhelming, but as a non-profit, interfaith community, Open Table is working hard to put a dent in Nashville’s homeless community. “We help people navigate the very complex social services and housing systems,” Krinks said. “Instead of people coming in to us — like the mission [Nashville Rescue Mission] and Room In the Inn [where] people from the streets come in and receive services – we go out to where people are and we take that [services] to them.” Krinks and the Open Table team are on the lookout, especially with more snow and low temperatures on the way for Friday. “We do outreach canvasing at night, so when it gets this cold we go out on the streets and we’re driving around, and we go...
by Hunter Patterson | Apr 20, 2012 | News Slider
Brett Flener, a Law, Justice and Society major who is the co-founder of Open Table Nashville, was announced as the 2012 recipient of the Mary Morris Award for Exemplary Service to Society, an annual award given to a member of the Lipscomb family. The family of Dr. Mary Morris, faculty member in the Department of Education and founder and director of the Center for Character Development at Lipscomb, established award in her memory. Open Table Nashville, which Flener helped establish as a 501(c)3 non-profit in 2011, is an interfaith community that disrupts cycles of poverty, journeys with the marginalized and provides education about issues of homelessness. Earlier this year, Lumination talked with Flener about Open Table. ”We’re not really here to ‘fix’ people,” he said. “We don’t see these people as problems. We see them as brothers and sisters to be journeyed with.” “What we are looking to do, especially through our community houses, is to plug in and say ‘We want to be that family now. We want to be that support system now. We want to grow with you. We want to walk with you even through the hard times.” The Mary Morris Award for Exemplary Service to Society is conferred on a member of the Lipscomb “family” who has demonstrated a high level of service to the community and the church. Nominees may include faculty, staff, alumni, current students and others who are advocates for Lipscomb University. The selected recipient should exhibit a spirit of volunteerism, engage in meaningful civic activities in the community that help spread God’s light, demonstrate a commitment to Christian missions wherever they...
by Cory Woodroof | Oct 12, 2011 | News Slider
If you either got the scent of a delicious meal or heard some good music this past Monday night, thank the folks at Open Table Nashville. Open Table Nashville recently hosted its 2nd annual Southern Cookin’ and Music Festival in the Flatt Amphitheater. The event was created to help raise money for the non-profit, interfaith organization. Brett Flener, a senior Law Justice and Society major and one of the organization’s co-founders, is very appreciative of the social and service clubs that helped with the event, as well as the other supporters of the organization. In addition to the southern food, there were several musical acts including Sarah Carter and the Pretty Ponies, Hogslop Duo, Jo’shua Odine, Relapse and Chrome Pony. Flener likes to think of the event as “spreading joy just to spread more joy.” He sees it as a “win-win” situation for everyone involved. Open Table Nashville defines itself as “a non-profit, interfaith community that disrupts cycles of poverty, journeys with the marginalized and provides education about issues of homelessness.” Open Table also works to provide community and transitional housing. Flener says that he wants everyone to know that Open Table Nashville is a community. ”We’re not really here to ‘fix’ people,” he said. “We don’t see these people as problems. We see them as brothers and sisters to be journeyed with.” Flener said that he wants Open Table Nashville to provide a community for those who have lost their own. “What we are looking to do, especially through our community houses, is to plug in and say ‘We want to be that family now,” he said. “We...
