Student Contributor -Kayla Ormsby
Tom’s Turkey Drive is an annual event that’s goal is to provide a Thanksgiving meal to anyone in the community who has a need. Tom’s Turkey Drive was started by the weather man from Krem2, Tom Sherry. As of 2019, they will have celebrated their 20th anniversary of this event.
Tom’s Turkey Drive is a partnership between KREM 2, 2nd Harvest, Rosauers Supermarkets, Franz Bakery, Numerica Credit Union, Starbucks, Washington Dairy Farmers, Itron Inc., Darigold and thousands of local shoppers, donors, and volunteers to help make a difference to people throughout our community.
Each Tom’s Turkey Drive meal costs $20 and is packed with a turkey and all the trimmings: A half-gallon of Darigold milk, Franz stuffing mix, a five-pound bag of fresh potatoes, a five-pound bag of apples, two cans of pumpkin puree, Bruce’s yams, French’s turkey gravy mix, cranberry sauce, Franz dinner rolls, and two cans of vegetables. Rosauers Supermarket hosts the selling of the of meal kits, where grocery shoppers can donate $20 to purchase the meal kit for a family in need.
The meals are distributed the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and those who receive the meals pick them up at Spokane Veteran’s Memorial Arena. They just have to show an ID and provide their name, address, and phone number to receive the meal packet.
Teachers can have their student’s draw a turkey logo for t-shirt contest that volunteers wear while volunteering for the event. This is low form of involvement, because only one student’s artwork is selected and it is low chance that someone in your class’s turkey is selected. This being said it is still a fun project for students to contribute too.
Teachers could organize to have a field trip where students participate in the food collecting at the closest Rosauers Supermarket. Students could also volunteer as a class when the meal kits are distributed the Tuesday before Thanksgiving at the Arena. This would be high impact on the students because they would have the opportunity to see their good deeds in action and how it impacts the community. Then afterwards the class could debrief and reflect on their contribution.
Alternatively, volunteer times could be arranged outside of school hours where the teacher attends and any students who choose to volunteer can report back to the class with pictures and personal experience.
