Tracy Lawrence is returning once again for his Mission:Possible Turkey Fry and Benefit Concert, raising money for the Nashville Rescue Mission. This year’s concert, held on November 22 at the Wildhorse Saloon, will include a performance by Lawrence, along with Gary Allan and Travis Denning, with more artists expected to be announced in the near future.
To date, Lawrence has fried over 8000 turkeys, provided more than 90,000 meals to the homeless across Middle Tennessee, and raised in excess of $600,000 for Nashville Rescue Mission. The 54-year-old hopes to expand that even more in 2022, setting a new goal of frying 1200 turkeys at this year’s event.
“Over the last 17 years we have served about 64,000 meals and touched countless people’s lives,” Lawrence reflects. “When we first started frying a few turkeys, I never thought we’d fry more than a dozen or two, let alone be raising hundreds of thousands of dollars while doing it. I’m proud of how this event has grown and I’m thankful to have others in the community willing to participate to make it what it is today.”
Lawrence’s devotion to raising money for those in need is as big as his devotion to his decades-long music career. The Texas native felt a calling years ago to help those less fortunate, a calling that has only grown stronger with time.
“Years ago, when we started this thing, it was done just as a grassroots awareness campaign,” Lawrence told Everything Nash. “I had no intentions of this thing growing into what it was. It was not my vision. I just saw people in need standing on the street corners that needed help, and I saw the distaste that people had for it. And I thought there might be a way that we can help change the public perception a little bit, and make people realize that, that there are a lot of different reasons that people fall on homelessness.”
Last year’s Mission:Possible Turkey Fry and Benefit Concert raised $175,000. Pre-sale for the concert begins on Wednesday, September 21 at 10:0 AM CT, with tickets to the general public available on September 23 at 10:00 AM CT. Tickets can be found here.
Find all of Lawrence’s music and upcoming shows at TracyLawrence.com.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of OH Creative / Jon Paul Bruno