VOA新闻杂志2023 慈善商店帮助有需要家庭

Free Toy Store Helps Needy¹ Families

慈善商店帮助有需要家庭

Four years ago, country music star Brad Paisley and his wife, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley, helped create a free food store in Nashville, Tennessee. Their goal was to give families in need the ability to choose their own food in a place that felt like a normal store. They named it The Store.

四年前，乡村音乐明星布拉德·佩斯利和他的妻子、演员金伯利·威廉姆斯-佩斯利在田纳西州纳什维尔市帮助创建了一家免费食品店。他们的目标是让有需要的家庭能够在一个感觉像普通商店的地方自行挑选食物。他们把它命名为The Store。

The Store is a partnership² with Nashville's Belmont University, where Paisley earned his degree.

The Store是纳什维尔市贝尔蒙特大学的合作伙伴，佩斯利在该校获得了他的学位。

The Store is turning into a free toy store ahead of the Christmas holiday. The event began Friday. For two days, chosen families could pick out new toys, video games, stuffed³ animals, makeup⁴ and other gifts.

圣诞节假期前，The Store将变成一家免费的玩具店。该活动于周五开始。在为期两天的时间里，被选中的家庭可以挑选新玩具、电子游戏、毛绒玩具、化妆品和其它礼物。

Paisley said, "The emotional⁵ aspect of being able to give your child something your child wanted versus⁶ just something to sort of get you through the holidays...that's such a load off the minds of somebody who maybe didn't think they were going to be able to do that."

佩斯利说：“能够给孩子一些他们想要的东西，而不仅仅是度过假期的东西的这种情感，对于那些可能认为自己无法做到这一点的人来说，这是他们思想上的沉重负担。”

Paisley and Williams-Paisley brought the idea of a free food store to Nashville after seeing a similar effort in California. The Store launched⁷ in early 2020. Its opening came just weeks after a powerful tornado⁸ hit the area and shortly before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic made food access an urgent⁹ problem.

佩斯利和威廉姆斯-佩斯利在加利福尼亚州看到类似措施后，将免费食品店的想法带到了纳什维尔市。该店于2020年初开业。它刚好赶在一场强大的龙卷风袭击了该地区的几周后，也是新冠肺炎大流行开始前不久。新冠疫情使食品供应成为一个紧迫的问题。

The Store changed its methods to meet people's needs. It turned into a food delivery¹⁰ service for older people. It delivered one million meals in its first year of operation.

The Store转变了方式来满足人们的需求。它变成了为老年人提供的送餐服务。它在运营的第一年就送出了100万份餐食。

Along with the food store, Belmont University also offers additional¹¹ services to families in need. They include financial education and music therapy¹².

除了这家食品店，贝尔蒙特大学还为有需要的家庭提供额外的服务。其中包括金融教育和音乐治疗。

"People come on hard times and we want this to be a safe, welcoming place for everybody, whether you're volunteering or whether you're needing the services," Williams-Paisley said. "It's just a community and we're all in it together."

威廉姆斯-佩斯利说：“人们在困难时期到来，我们希望这里对每个人来说都是一个安全、受欢迎的地方，无论你是在做志愿者还是需要服务。这只是一个社区，我们都在其中。”

For this year's toy store event, The Store received about 2,000 donated objects and raised $20,000. Volunteers and workers from Belmont University in Nashville spent hours opening and organizing all of the donated toys into different areas.

在今年的玩具商店活动中，The store收到了大约2000件捐赠物品，并筹集了20000美元。纳什维尔市贝尔蒙特大学的志愿者和工作人员花了几个小时将所有捐赠的玩具打开并整理到不同的区域。

Parents will be able to drop off their kids at a religious center nearby, where they can play and drink a hot chocolate. The adults can pick out gifts at the same time.

家长们可以把孩子送到附近的宗教中心，在那里他们可以玩耍并喝一杯巧克力热饮。与此同时成年人可以挑选礼物。

Paisley said Christmas is his favorite time of year. He said he might even visit The Store dressed as Santa Claus, the make-believe person who brings gifts for children on Christmas.

佩斯利说圣诞节是他一年中最喜欢的时间。他说，他甚至可能打扮成圣诞老人的样子去The Store，圣诞老人是一个在圣诞节给孩子们派送礼物的虚构人物。

"I live for this time of year," Paisley said. "Ever since we've had children and possibly even before, I kind of go all out."

佩斯利说：“我盼着每年的这个时候。自从我们有了孩子，甚至可能在此之前，我就有点不遗余力。”

1 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

2 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

3 stuffed   

adj.充满的；饱的v.塞住( stuff的过去式和过去分词 )；把…装进；把…装满；（使）吃撑

参考例句：

• stuffed animals in glass cases 玻璃柜里的动物标本
• I was stuffed to the gills with chocolate cake. 我嘴里塞满了巧克力蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

5 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

6 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

7 launched   

v.发射( launch的过去式和过去分词 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• He launched a bitter diatribe against the younger generation. 他对年轻一代发起了猛烈的抨击。
• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide. 这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。

8 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

9 urgent   

a.紧急的，急迫的，紧要的

参考例句：

• He asked to see the manager for something urgent. 他有急事求见经理。
• A part of this urgent task was allotted to us. 这项紧急任务的一部分分给了我们。

10 delivery   

n.交付；投递；分娩；解救者；演讲的风格

参考例句：

• The strike caused a great delay in the delivery of the mail.这次罢工严重地延误了邮件的投递。
• He was employed at the local grocery store as a delivery boy.他受雇于当地杂货店当送货员。

11 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。

12 therapy   

n.治疗；疗法

参考例句：

• The doctor said she should be given a physical therapy.医生说她应该进行理疗。
• She will need to have the therapy repeated every few months.她将需要每隔几个月就进行一次治疗。