It’s turkey season! With Thanksgiving coming up soon, people all over the country are buying turkeys for holiday dinners. But imagine Thanksgiving this year without a turkey. Many families cannot afford holiday dinner. To enable more families to celebrate the holidays, Poudre School District is holding its annual Turkey Roundup Nov. 13 from 7:35 a.m. to 5 p.m. to donate turkeys to the Larimer County Food Bank
The Larimer County Food Bank distributes over 1,500 turkeys to those in need every year. Mike McCarthy, a teacher at Lopez Elementary in 2003, realized that the Food Bank could not meet the demand for turkeys by themselves and decided to create the Turkey Roundup to help. In 2005, the program collected 254 turkeys. It has grown immensely; the Turkey Roundup collected 1557 turkeys last year. The Turkey Roundup also collects non-perishable foods for side dishes. Cyndi Gile, volunteer coordinator, is very passionate about the program. “[The Turkey Roundup] creates a sense of community within the school; it provides turkeys to those who may not have the funds available to purchase one – we can ensure that their family gets to have a great Thanksgiving meal that so many of us may take for granted.”
Many schools compete to see who can collect the most turkeys, or who can collect the most sides, to create excitement and participation within the school. Students plenty of times are helping their fellow class mates. “The people we are helping could be PSD students,” Gale said, “it just feels good to do it!”
Interested in helping? Bring in frozen turkeys or non-perishable food to Fossil Ridge High School, or any other PSD school, on November 13. PSD also needs people to deliver turkeys to the food bank. If you are interested in volunteering or have more questions, contact Cyndi Gile at [email protected].
