Dane Nutty, Indy Public Safety Foundation Talks Clint Black & Midland Fundraiser Concert!

Jason Hammer (0:00)

I'm Jason Hammer, radio legend Nigel is right next to me. And joining us now on the hotline, he's the president and CEO of Indy Public Safety Foundation, Dane Nutty.

Dane, it's a big weekend here. We got a hell of a concert coming up on Friday, don't we?

Dane Nutty (0:19)

We do. We're very excited. It's going to be an incredible time, and we're looking to get a couple of days of more promotion here.

Jason Hammer (0:25)

So, Clint Black & Midland are performing for the annual Frontline Benefit Concert. This is going to be at Everwise at White River State Park downtown. This is a Friday show.

And again, this is to benefit Frontline. Tell me about what Frontline is, and to a bigger extent, the Indy Public Safety Foundation.

Dane Nutty (0:49)

Yeah, absolutely. So, Frontline, like you said, it's more than a concert.

It's really an opportunity to bring first responders together with the communities they serve. And so, we're so excited to have two huge acts with Clint Black & Midland this year, throw a huge party concert for all of our first responders, and really let the community show that they support and really appreciate what they do every day. So, Frontline is the Indy Public Safety Foundation's signature fundraising event every year. It's what helps drive our internal capacity to be able to invest in our city's police, fire, EMS, and any of the folks helping enhance public safety and keep our city safe.

Jason Hammer (1:25)

Going to a little bit more detail, I'm sorry, Nigel, go into a little bit more detail on what that means. Like when you say invest, like what is the money going toward?

Dane Nutty (1:34)

Yeah, so you name it, in the 12 years we've been raising money for Indy's first responders, we probably bought one of everything. So that might be a piece of equipment, it might be a tool, it might be a technology, it might be a support program, it might be a mental health or physical health program. So really anything that we can provide to our first responders is to let them do their jobs either more safely or more effectively. And again, just to the point of bringing everybody together to show them that they really do have a community that supports them every single day.

So it's really, you name it, like I said, we've gotten it and a lot of that stuff will be out at the event. Drones we purchased recently, that's a huge area of growth for IMPD and for other agencies. And so a lot of that stuff people will be seeing at the UNITE on Friday to be able to see what we've invested in over the last 12 years.

Nigel (2:20)

And Dane, just to piggyback on what Hammer was saying, people just by virtue of buying a ticket to this concert are effectively donating to Frontline?

Dane Nutty (2:31)

They are, yes. Yes, so ticket sales go to us as well as sponsorships across the board. And so folks that maybe don't have a huge knowledge of what we do at the Public Safety Foundation, but want to see Clint Black and Midland, they get to buy a ticket. And then we have before the concert, so starting at 530, a tactical tailgate where we bring all the first responders and all the equipment and apparatus out for people to really kind of have that behind the scenes, look at what they do each and every day and start building some relationships.

Jason Hammer (3:00)

We're speaking with Dane Nutty, the president and CEO of the Indy Public Safety Foundation. They got a big concert Friday downtown, Clint Black and Midland. It benefits frontline Indy Public Safety Foundation.

And Dane, I think firefighters and police officers often get the big headlines. But when you talk about first responders, how important are these people that are driving the ambulance, or the folks working in the back, or the meds, the medics, you know, those people that might not get the big headlines?

Dane Nutty (3:34)

Oh, you're exactly right. So the providers at Indianapolis EMS, whether they're EMTs or paramedics or, you know, logistics and fleet, I think what people don't realize is there's a huge amount of people that are working every single day to keep our city safe, whether they're the ones that answer the call to your point or not.

So we're able to kind of bring awareness through this too. And they may not have engaged with an EMT or paramedic, unless it's potentially on one of the worst days of their life, and they unfortunately had to call for help. So being able to give them a little promotion, give them a little love and support, let them know that, you know, their jobs are often thankless and under recognized, certainly. So being able to bring 3000 plus people in front of them to say thank you is, such a huge opportunity.