Fee/Hedrick Donates $100,000 to Smoky Mountain Fire Relief

The Fee/Hedrick Family Entertainment Group in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., has been involved in helping responders and victims of the Smoky Mountain fires and announced a $100,000 donation to fire relief efforts.

The folks from Fee/Hedrick’s “Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Feud” fed people displaced from the fires a free lunch on Tuesday. The co-owners of Fee/Hedrick Family Entertainment, David Fee and Jim Hedrick, decided almost immediately that they could also help by offering free tickets to The Comedy Barn for all evacuees, so that for just a few minutes the victims could have a laugh at the funniest show in town. However, feeding them and entertaining them was not enough. Fee and Hedrick have decided to donate $100,000 to their beloved Smoky Mountain community for food, housing, clothing and other needs for these fire-battered families.

“No one can help everyone, but everyone can help someone,” Fee said. “If we can make them laugh a little and forget their troubles for a while, that is our special gift. Each of the evacuees have heartbreaking stories, and we wish we could help everyone.

“Over the last twenty-four hours we’ve watched, waited and prayed as fire consumed our beloved mountains, our homes and area businesses,” Fee said. “It has been devastating. We at Fee/Hedrick Family Entertainment Group feel blessed that our businesses are still standing and in operation. However, with over 400 employees, we have confirmed that at least three of our employees have lost their homes and all of their possessions. We are humbled to be helping our own employee’s individually, and at such an emotional time in their lives.

“Additionally, we feel led to do more to help others in our community,” Fee said. “Therefore, our company is proud to announce that we are giving $100,000 to help with the fire relief efforts here in Sevier County. We want to thank all of our employees for supplying free lunch at our Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Feud to so many in need on Tuesday. Special thanks to our Comedy Barn Theater for providing a free show to those in need of laughter. And to our employees at our Smoky Mountain Opry Theater, thank you for helping to raise so much desperately needed money through our candle donations.

“We are also pleased that one of our companies, ‘The Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Feud,’ will be feeding lunch to all first responders and emergency teams on Wednesday, Nov. 30, in both Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge,” he said. “We are so grateful to everyone that risks their lives for all of us, and for all that they are doing to keep us safe. Thank you, thank you to all of these brave men and women.

“We’d also like for all to know that our employees have decided to continue doing all shows,” Fee said. “Giving our town and its visitors a distraction from this devastation is something that our management and employees all feel led to do. We’re all in this together. We send much love to our community.”