NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — What started as just a few city employees, turned to complete strangers volunteering their time and effort cleaning graffiti off Bridgestone Arena.
Patrick McKennon woke up Sunday morning to see the damage left behind on Broadway Avenue. He grabbed his gear, and made a quick stop at a home improvement shop before posting the call to help on Facebook.
McKennon arrived at Bridgestone Arena to find a few friends he recognized, along with new faces like Blake who was visiting from Michigan.
Blake flew into Nashville Saturday afternoon and spent time with family on Broadway, before chaos ensued. He rushed back to his AirBnB just down the road and the next morning saw McKennon’s post.
“It’s not that I don’t support justice for George Floyd, it’s just some people decided to go about it in a destructive way,” said Blake.
McKennon says he himself had a hard time recognizing the Nashville he saw in photos, which served as all the motivation he needed to do something about it.
“I saw a peaceful protest in the beginning and then I saw the events change. I saw our city come under siege and under fire,” said McKennon.
McKennon says he's grateful for the turnout as they managed to remove nearly all the graffiti from an entire night of tagging, in just a few hours
Once Nashville Predators staff caught wind of the good deed, they began handing out "Nashville Strong" shirts to volunteers, thanking them for their help.
A big THANKS to the @PredsNHL for handing out these shirts to the volunteers a moment ago @NC5 pic.twitter.com/xDEcrffLG7
— Levi Ismail (@LeviAIsmail) May 31, 2020
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