Nashville’s community came to the aid of those in need this Thanksgiving week. Country artist Tracy Lawrence has been hosting his annual Mission: Possible Turkey Fry and Benefit Concert for two decades, frying up turkeys and helping put together Thanksgiving meals for those in the community.
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This year, the event weathered a snag after a refrigerated truck broke down, spoiling 650 of the 3,600 allotment of turkeys. Lawrence then asked for the community’s help. Nashville’s denizens, including country artist and “Wind Up Missin’ You” hitmaker Tucker Wetmore, came to his aid.
Wetmore himself went to Costco and loaded his truck with more than 100 turkeys and took them to the turkey fry, helping Lawrence and many others cook up the poultry. Several artists and celebrities also helped out with the turkey fry, including Jamey Johnson, Charles Esten, Dustin Lynch, Meghan Patrick, John Crist, Rodney Atkins, Clint Black, Rhett Akins and Frank Ray, while artists such as Atkins, Black, Akins, Esten and Steve Wariner also donated turkeys.
Overall, people from Nashville and surrounding areas donated more than 2,400 turkeys, for a total of 5,350 cooked and frozen distributed turkeys, helping to provide upward of 50,000 meals.
“I cannot imagine a better 20th anniversary for the Mission:Possible Turkey Fry and Concert,” Lawrence said in a statement. “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.”
The music portion of the event featured artists including Lawrence, Gretchen Wilson, Chris Cagle, Eric Paslay and Halfway to Hazard performing at Luke Combs’ Category 10. The event raised $355,000 for Mission: Possible from ticket sales, silent auction items and artist donations, and presented a check to Nashville Rescue Mission for $250,000. This year, the event also hosted a canned food drive on behalf of Second Harvest Food Bank to help those impacted by food insecurity.
See a video from the event below:
