Steal This: Bet On Nashville At Steeplechase

This Saturday is one of Nashville’s most time-honored traditions. It’s the 69th running of the Iroquois Steeplechase to benefit the Monroe Carrell Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. And although the event raises tons of money for the Children’s Hospital (over $8M over the 26-year relationship), I was still feeling a little funny about putting on a sundress and hat and sipping cocktails while my fellow Nashvillians are cleaning up the wreckage in their homes this weekend.

(Image courtesy The Enabler from Flickr)

So my hubby and I decided to take one small step to funnel some good to our flood victims from Steeplechase day.  We’ve asked our guests to pack a little extra folding money when they meet us for this weekend’s festivities.  As we always do, our little tailgating crew will draw horses out of a hat and place small bets. But this time, Will and I will match the winning purse up to $100 and donate the proceeds to the winner’s flood-related charity of choice.  We’re encouraging our guests to donate their winnings as well.  We figure maybe it will make the betting a little more exciting if dollar amounts are increased and do a little good to boot. You know how it is, a little booze and a bit of excitement and all of a sudden the charitable donations start to flow. Just ask anyone who has ever chaired a live auction for charity!

I thought I would share this idea via my blog in case others want to jump on the bandwagon. If you are thinking of supporting flood victims through your Steeplechase festivities this weekend in other ways, please let me know and we’ll post those ideas here. I’d love to hear from you!

Giddy up, Nashville! We’re going to be ok!

posted by Julia on May 5th, 2010 in Entertaining, Julia Original, Steal This
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