Jelly Roll wanted to donate some toys — and ended up making history.
The country star spoke to PEOPLE on the 2023 CMA Awards red carpet about how his ongoing toy drive in partnership with Walmart and several other brands grew to make a massive impact on Nashville.
Last month, Jelly Roll announced he was partnering with Hasbro, Coca-Cola, iHeartRadio and the Metro Nashville Police Department for a toy drive that kicked off Nov. 1 at Walmart’s Franklin, Tennessee location. Since then, the initiative has expanded to eight Walmart stores in total, and more companies have gotten involved.
“It started with me just thinking I’d pitch in $100,000 or something toward something to get some toys going,” the “Son of a Sinner” musician, 38, tells PEOPLE at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. “Then, I talked to my friends at Walmart and they said, ‘We can make this bigger. We can amplify this.'”
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