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Jelly Roll Donates Toys For Almost 8,000 Nashville-Area Children

Nashville Sheriff Daron Hall: "Before CMA/Grammy awards and much of his success, (Jelly Roll) said he wanted to give back. Today, a truck loaded with toys showed up at the Last Minute Toy Store. You are changing music and lives. Thank you!"

Jelly Roll has been vocal about wanting to spearhead the largest toy drive in Nashville's history. Saturday, the Nashville native took another step toward making his promise a reality when he donated a tractor-trailer packed with toys to the Last Minute Toy Store.

The Last Minute Toy Store gifts toys to underprivileged Middle Tennessee families over the holidays.

"I met Jelly Roll over a year ago at the facility (where) he was once housed," said Nashville Sheriff Daron Hall. (Jelly Roll served time in prison before his success.) "Before CMA/Grammy awards and much of his success, (Jelly Roll) said he wanted to give back. Today, a truck loaded with toys showed up at the Last Minute Toy Store. You are changing music and lives. Thank you!"

The Last Minute Toy praised Jelly Roll on social media.

"The Last Minute Toy Store needed some gifts for 7,675 kids," the post read. "Jelly Roll sent over a TRACTOR TRAILER... and DUNKED it.

The singer's actions align with the goals he shared with CMT over the summer when he said he took a lot of pride in being a Nashville native and that his "spirit is always to give back."

"Who would I be to be so blessed and not turn around and try to be a blessing?" he explained, giving his daughter Bailee Ann credit for the toy drive idea.

Jelly Roll said his teenager started the toy drive on a small scale with her aunt four or five years ago in White House, Tennessee. They called it Buddy's Toy Drive in honor of Jelly Roll's late father. When Jelly Roll's career skyrocketed, he wanted to give Buddy's Toy Drive a larger platform. Walmart, Hasbro, the Nashville Predators, the Nashville Fire Department and more joined the cause.

"The mayor met me in a Walmart parking lot in Antioch, Tennessee," Jelly Roll said. "Dude, if you ever told me that the county commissioner … and the mayor would be coming to see me, I'd have been petrified. I'd have thought, 'God, what law did I break?' So, we've already raised a lot of toys."

Jelly Roll pledged $100,000 of his own money to the toy drive to make it the biggest in Nashville's history.

"Just trying to be a man of service," Jelly Roll said. "The plans I have for giving back haven't even scratched the surface on what I plan on doing in the next five years. We'll talk on the phone five years from now, and we'll laugh about how small potatoes this was."

In five years, Jelly Roll hopes to have just opened his fifth group home.

"That's my dream," he said. "My father always told me, 'A smart man will learn from his mistakes. A wise man will learn from the mistakes of others. And I hope to give people wisdom."

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