Stepping up big time.
Once again this year, country music legend Tracy Lawrence has spent part of his Thanksgiving week frying up turkeys to give back to his community. Held at the Nashville Fairgrounds yesterday, Lawrence fought through adversity to deliver a ton of fried turkey, benefiting the Nashville Rescue Mission and those in need in Middle Tennessee.
The day got off to a little bit of a rocky start when organizers showed up this morning and realized that a refrigerator truck had gone out overnight and ruined 650 turkeys, and Tracy and his team had planned on frying up over 2,000 turkeys this year, with a goal of to feeding over 36,000 people. But when hundreds turkeys were ruined, they needed a little help from the Nashville community to make it happen.
After putting out a call for help, tons of those in the community showed up, and they ended up with over 2,400 turkeys had to replace the 650 that were ruined, nearly quadrupling the number of people that they’ll be able to feed thanks the generosity of the community who stepped up to help.
Artists like Tucker Wetmore and Meghan Patrick even showed up with turkey deliveries, and throughout the day, Jamey Johnson, John Schneider, Dustin Lynch, Rodney Atkins, Steve Wariner, Rhett Akins, Charles Esten and even some of Whiskey Riff’s own stopped by to drop off turkeys.
The grand total came out to 5,350 cooked and frozen distributed turkeys, and with the added donations, it brings the total to 50,000+ meals provided for those in need, making for a really cool moment during a season that’s all about being thankful and helping others.
In addition to the turkey fry, Lawrence hosted a concert at Luke Combs’ Category 10 bar, which featured performances by Lawrence, Gretchen Wilson, Chris Cagle, Eric Paslay and Halfway to Hazard.
The event saw a record-breaking amount of money raised for Mission: Possible, totaling a whopping $355,000 from ticket sales, silent auction items, significant artist donations and more, with a check presented to Nashville Rescue Mission for $250,000.
Lawrence says he “cannot imagine” a better result for the 20th anniversary of his incredible event. After getting off to a rocky start, the community came together to deliver the biggest edition of the event so far, helping so many in the local community who really need the help as the holidays approach:
“I cannot imagine a better 20th anniversary for the Mission: Possible Turkey Fry and Concert.” What started as a day of uncertainty turned into a day of our community coming together in a way I couldn’t have imagined.
Between the fry itself and the benefit concert with my friends Gretchen, Chris, Eric and Halfway to Hazard, I was blown away once again by the kindness of our neighbors.”
Since its inception, Lawrence’s Mission: Possible has fried over 15,000 turkeys, provided more than 135,000 meals to the homeless across Middle Tennessee, donated over $1.3M to Nashville Rescue Mission and raised over $2.5M which helps to further its goals, advocate for those in need and expand their ability to support aligned causes.
It’s really a special event, and even though it wasn’t without a little adversity, so many stepped up to make this the best year yet. Props to Tracy and everyone involved for pulling it off and doing so much to help so many people in Middle Tennessee.
