CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — For those who have lost everything from the devastating tornadoes that ripped through parts of Middle Tennessee, there are dozens of organizations with boots on the ground ready to fill the gaps.
Volunteers with Operation BBQ Relief, a nonprofit based out of Kansas City, arrived in Clarksville within 24 hours of the storm.
"I'm not a homebuilder. I can't fix powerlines, but I can provide a hot meal, and that's my way of giving back to the community," said Nick Woolfolk, director of the culinary disaster division for Operation BBQ Relief.
Woolfolk told News 2 the organization was founded in 2011 following the touchdown of the deadliest tornado in U.S. history in Joplin, Missouri. He has seen his fair share of devastation since.
"It never gets easy. It never gets old," Woolfolk said.
Operation BBQ Relief had never been deployed to the Clarksville area before, but Woolfolk said the nonprofit built up its local volunteer base after responding to the devastation following the 2020 Nashville tornadoes, which helped them deploy to Clarksville much faster.
"We have volunteers all over the country, and we have a lot of different equipment staged throughout the southeastern part of the United States," Woolfolk said. "We have some in Johnson City as well as Memphis, so it was kind of the perfect place to get there and get food going."
Randy Hartmann, Operation BBQ Relief volunteer and retired firefighter, spent Tuesday serving food at the Walmart on Fort Campbell Boulevard. This is his tenth deployment with the nonprofit in five years, but this is the first time he has had personal ties to a disaster.
"Every disaster is different," Hartmann said. "This one hits close to home for me because my daughter actually lives about a mile from where the one tornado came down."
Hartmann told News 2 once he learned his daughter was okay, he packed his bags and traveled to Clarksville.
"There's no even second thought about it anymore; when it happens, you're ready to go," Hartmann said. "It's so close to Christmas, and these folks have nothing. I have everything right now. I haven't lost anything, so I'm going to be here to help them."
Operation BBQ Relief plans to serve warm meals from the Walmart parking lot on Fort Campbell Boulevard in Clarksville beginning at 11 a.m. each day until there is no longer a need.
To learn more or to make a donation, click here.