T.J. Martell Foundation Business Leaders Council

The T.J. Martell Foundation launched the Business Leaders Council on Friday, August 28, 2009 during a luncheon at The Hutton Hotel with Honorary Chairman Charlie Daniels and a select group of Nashville business leaders. The luncheon, co-sponsored by Blue Hat Records and Keaton Music Ventures gave business leaders the opportunity to come together and discuss the Martell Foundation's relationship with the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and to learn of ways to involve their companies in the Foundation.

"I have been involved with the T.J. Martell Foundation for many years through my good friend, Tony Martell and believe in the good works the Foundation does in supporting innovative cancer research," said Daniels. "We are all touched by cancer in some way and we need to be involved with helping the scientists in their mission of one day finding a cure."

The T.J. Martell Foundation began with a promise from a father to his dying son. In 1973, a high school student named T.J. Martell was battling leukemia. He asked his father, music industry executive Tony Martell, to raise a million dollars for cancer research so that "no one else will have to experience what I am going through." Although he had no fundraising experience, Tony agreed. Two years later, T.J. died at the age of nineteen, and as Tony explains today, "that put my promise in cement." Soon after, Tony was joined by many of his musician friends like Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington to hold a fundraiser at Buddy Rich's nightclub in New York. They raised $50,000 and the T.J. Martell Foundation was born. Over the years, hundreds of volunteers have worked passionately to help raise more than $225 million for leukemia, cancer and AIDS research. The Foundation, headquartered in New York also has divisions in Nashville covering the southeast and in Los Angeles covering the west coast.

The Business Leaders Council is Co-Chaired by David Corlew, President of Blue Hat Records and Danielle Bouharoun, Senior Vice President, Senior Relationship Manager and Manager of Entertainment Group at Wachovia Wealth Management, a Wells Fargo Company. The business leaders present at the luncheon included Larry Beckwith, Eco-Energy Inc., Lisa Bush, the Hutton Hotel, David Corlew, Blue Hat Records; Derek Crownover, Crownover/Tisinger; Charlie Daniels; Steve Hauser, William Morris -Endeavor Entertainment; Laura Heatherly, T.J. Martell Foundation; Chris Keaton, Keaton Music Ventures; Lee Kraft, Kraft CPAs; Sam Lewis, Ameris Health Systems; Hugh Lombardi, Sommet Center; Dr. and Mrs. Joseph A Otterpohl, DMD; Joe Rando, Heath Island Enterprises; Brenda Sanderson, Broadway Entertainment; Dean Tubb, Charlie Daniels Band and Deborah Varallo, Varallo Public Relations.