During the four days of CMA fest in June, Red Frogs handed out 85,000 cups of water. The group also charged more than 1,500 phones and distributed 4,000 bottles of sunscreen across three “Chill Out Zones” and via several roving teams.
The group of 90 volunteers helped partying Nashvillians from 10:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. — that also included helping people reconnect with their lost group or find their rideshare or hotel. This weekend, for Nashville’s “Let Freedom Sing!” celebration on the nation’s 250th anniversary, the nonprofit will offer its biggest downtown presence yet — five stations.
Red Frogs operates on the tenets of early intervention and harm minimization, says Dan Terry, national director of Red Frogs USA. That means they assist people who aren’t in need of an ambulance and aren’t breaking the law, but may need a “helping hand,” as Terry is wont to say.
“I think Red Frogs and the work of our great volunteers really does take the pressure off MNPD and EMS from having to deal with things that are either low-level cases, or we stop them from happening in the first place,” Terry tells the Scene.
Founded in Australia in 1997, Red Frogs made its first foray into the United States in late 2024, with Nashville its first stateside presence. Each weekend, the group operates a booth at Broadway and Second Avenue and sends teams out to check on the people enjoying Music City’s party strip. Earlier this year, Red Frogs expanded to offer services on both Friday and Saturday from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m.
Red Frogs volunteers with MNPD officers and Nashville's night mayor, September 2024
District 19 Councilmember Jacob Kupin says Red Frogs' services took on additional meaning following the March 2024 death of Riley Strain, who was under the influence of alcohol when he drowned in the Cumberland River after being separated from his group.
“I don't know if it would have saved Riley's life, but it could have,” Kupin says. "Riley is an example of what Red Frogs proactively helps.”
Red Frogs requested $250,000 as part of the Metro Council-approved city budget to support their work. They received praise from Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake during the budget hearing, and ultimately received $50,000 from Metro.
“This working together harmoniously actually allows MNPD to deal with the cases that they really need to deal with,” Terry says. “Twenty minutes of a police officer's time being diverted to basically kind of babysit someone, sometimes — that's 20 valuable minutes that they could have been doing something else.”
Red Frogs already partners with MNPD, the Nashville Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services, the Nashville Downtown Partnership and the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife. The group also keeps overdose reversal drug naloxone and resources from the Sexual Assault Center on hand. Kupin would like to see more dedicated funding for Red Frogs.
Fund Recovery project at Twice Daily distributes up to 750 boxes of overdose-reversal drug per week
“They're taking a burden off of the departments,” Kupin says. “I'd love to see that as part of a regular budget.”
Kupin says alternatives to policing aren’t necessarily anti-cop. In 2023, the city introduced its first non-police 911 response with REACH, which sends a paramedic and a mental health professional to applicable calls, and has since expanded the service.
“Oftentimes when we hear 'non-police response,' I think there's a lot of people that reflexively push back,” Kupin says. “Non-police community safety can be really robust and really strong, and I think it's important to look at how we prevent issues in the first place.”
Unlike most nonprofits, Red Frogs is actually rich in volunteer interest, Terry says. They put more applications on hold than they allow in. Every volunteer goes through online training, a background check, in-person training, character checks and education on alcohol, drugs and de-escalation tactics. The onboarding process is vigorous because the group deals with vulnerable individuals, he says.
“That's a pretty in-depth process to be able to go and hand out a cup of water and charge someone's phone, but we want to make sure that we have all the right people volunteering,” Terry says.
Terry points out that many more big events — most notably the 2030 Super Bowl — are coming, and the party people will need Red Frogs' support.
“Nashville is a global city,” Terry says. “It's really been on the map as booming, but something that needs great infrastructure to support the growth that we're seeing — so that's where Red Frogs really comes in.”
