Fans and Country Stars Rally to Replace Spoiled Turkeys for Tracy Lawrence’s Thanksgiving Turkey Fry
After 650 turkeys spoiled due to a broken truck, fans and country stars stepped up to donate thousands more.
Tucker Wetmore, Tracy Lawrence; Photo by Dylan McGraw
The country music community rallied in a big way to support Tracy Lawrence’s mission to feed the homeless this Thanksgiving after a broken refrigerated truck spoiled 650 of the 3,600 turkeys set aside for donation. Once Lawrence shared the setback on social media and asked Middle Tennessee locals to help, the response was immediate and also overwhelming.
Fans, friends, and fellow artists stepped up with 2,400 donated turkeys, pushing the new total to 5,350 cooked and frozen turkeys distributed this season. Thanks to the generosity of the community, Lawrence’s annual effort has now surpassed 50,000 meals provided to those in need.
Artists including Jamey Johnson, Tucker Wetmore, Charles Esten, Dustin Lynch, Meghan Patrick, John Crist, Rodney Atkins, Clint Black, Rhett Akins, Frank Ray and more all played a part in the try fry on Tuesday morning.
Wetmore even surprised Lawrence by dropping off more than 100 turkeys, while Patrick also donated and encouraged her followers to join in. Additional turkeys came from Steve Wariner, Atkins, Black, Akins, Esten, and others.
The support didn’t stop there. Later that night, fans packed into Luke Combs’ Category 10 for a special benefit concert featuring Tracy Lawrence, Gretchen Wilson, Chris Cagle, Eric Paslay, and Halfway to Hazard. The event shattered records, raising $355,000 for Mission:Possible through ticket sales, silent auction items, major artist contributions, and more. A check for $250,000 was presented to the Nashville Rescue Mission.
For the first time, the show also included a canned food drive benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank, helping local families facing food insecurity. One lucky supporter even walked away with a signed guitar thanks to the food drive raffle.
“I cannot imagine a better 20th anniversary for the Mission:Possible Turkey Fry and Concert,” Lawrence shared. “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.”
Monetary donations can still be made to Mission:Possible here.
Lauren Jo Black, a University of Central Florida graduate, has immersed herself in the world of country music for over 15 years. In 2008, she co-founded CountryMusicIsLove, eventually selling it to a major record label in 2015. Following the rebranding of the website to Sounds Like Nashville, Black served as Editor-in-Chief for two and a half years. Currently, she assumes the role of Editor-in-Chief at Country Now and oversees Country Now’s content and digital footprint. Her extensive experience also encompasses her previous role as a Country Music Expert Writer for Answers.com and her work being featured on Forbes.com. She’s been spotlighted among Country Aircheck’s Women of Influence and received the 2012 Rising Star Award from the University of Central Florida. Black also spent time in front of the camera as host of Country Now Live, which brought live music directly to fans in 2021 when the majority of concerts were halted due to the pandemic. During this time, she hosted 24 weeks of live concerts via Country Now Live on Twitch with special guests such as Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Jordan Davis, Brett Young, and Jon Pardi. Over the course of her career, she has had the privilege of conducting interviews with some of the industry’s most prominent stars, including Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, and many others. Lauren Jo Black is a longtime member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.
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