While the voice behind songs like “Texas Tornado” and “Time Marches On”, Tracy Lawrence was more than a country music legend. Using his stardom to help give back, the country singer found numerous ways to provide for those in need. One of those ways was through the Nashville Rescue Mission and the famous Mission: Possible Turkey Fry. Hoping to bring families together for Thanksgiving, Lawrence and a massive team of organizers found themselves needing some Nashville help when wanting to cook over 2000 turkeys.
Spending months preparing for the event, organizers entered the Nashville Fairgrounds, ready to start cooking. But they soon realized that one of the trucks housing 650 turkeys had an issue with its cooling system. With the cooler breaking, all 650 turkeys were ruined. Not wanting to miss their mark of 2,000 turkeys, Lawrence and the organizers turned to the people of Nashville.
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Asking people to donate a turkey, the event found itself with more than enough food. With people rushing to donate, Lawrence promised, “I think we’ve already got more and overabundant. I think we’re going to be fine… I think we have more than filled that void by the donations that everybody has brought out…”
Did Tracy Lawrence Hit His Goal Of 2,000 Turkeys?
As for his goal of 2,000 turkeys, Lawrence claimed, “I would imagine we’ll do about 2,500 turkeys today. I believe we’ll reach that number easily.” He shared later that day that the organization delivered over 2,400 turkeys.
Throughout the history of Mission: Possible, the organization donated over $1 million, helped raise $3 million, and prepared more than 86,000 meals for the homeless.
Understanding the true meaning of the holidays, Lawrence wasn’t remotely done. “I think there’s still room for growth, there’s still room for improvement. We’ve increased our distribution pipeline tremendously. We have three trucks going out tomorrow, going to drop zones around 15, 16 counties around Nashville, a huge volume of them that will continue to go to the Nashville Rescue Mission, so we’re really trying to serve as many people as we can reach.”
While founded by Lawrence, he called on a few friends to help with the event. Throughout the day, John Schneider, Dustin Lynch, Rodney Atkins, Steve Wariner, Rhett Akins, Charles Esten, Jamey Johnson, and more stopped by to fry a turkey or two.
(Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images)