Campus Kitchens across the nation were stuffed with activity this Thanksgiving for the annual Turkeypalooza project, a hunger relief initiative mobilizing kitchens to feed thousands on Turkey Day.
The Campus Kitchen at St. Louis University tacked on seven extra cooking shifts to roast 20 whole turkeys, which, when coupled with 20 precooked turkey breasts, served almost 600 meals to needy populations in the St. Louis area.
Eastward, the Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee University tapped into its partnership with the local Wal Mart – which regularly gives the kitchen discontinued items or dented cans – to feed nine agencies 230 meals.
The Campus Kitchen at Wake Forest University took the advice Gonzaga’s Campus Kitchen, 2500 miles away, and served pumpkin cookies in lieu pumpkin pie to make packaging and transport smoother.
Over 150 volunteers gathered at the Minnesota State University, Mankato Campus Kitchen to help pick up and drop off 200 turkey dinners.
At the Campus Kitchen at Gettysburg College, volunteers may have found it helpful to know the word “pavo”, Spanish for turkey. That’s because the kitchen hosted a Thanksgiving themed bilingual dinner, the result of cooking ten turkeys for three client agencies.
Organizers at Gettysburg recruited volunteers from upper level Spanish classes, study abroad programs, and the Latin American Student Association to practice their language skills (with the Hispanic families the kitchen serves) while munching on green beans, applesauce, and Mexican pasta with ground beef and beans.
“People shared what they were thankful for, then we all enjoyed a delicious meal made up of both typical Thanksgiving food and Hispanic foods,” says Megan Crowe, Campus Kitchen coordinator.
At all of the 20 Campus Kitchens, as the last mound of mashed potatoes disappeared and the last bone was picked, volunteers and coordinators were already gearing up to cook and serve again – using leftover frozen turkeys and holiday-themed menus – before winter break.
No user commented in " Pavo is Spanish for Turkey: Turkeypalooza, by the Numbers "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackLeave A Reply