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.

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They’re about to prepare and cook pumpkin enchiladas for a campus kitchen delivery shift next month – but first there’s a more pressing need at-hand: the students must help label and load two types of meals serving 75 people in the community that morning. Among the dishes: 17 whole, roasted turkeys.

The students – part of the hotel restaurant/management program, led by campus kitchen advisor Susan Callahan – unpack freezers to reveal a full Thanksgiving meal, and then some.

Residents of The Dwelling Place, an agency that works with 17 families to transition them from homeless to secure family life, receive boxes of all the fixings for a complete Thanksgiving feast, plus an extra frozen meal for a later date.

Families at The Dwelling Place might start their campus kitchen meal with fresh-baked bread, homemade gravy on mashed potatoes or steamed carrots and broccoli. Then it’s on to the main courses: sweet potato casserole and a ten pound roasted turkey, served with fresh cranberry relish. For dessert: pumpkin pie and homemade chocolate chip banana bread.

Volunteers piled this feast, along with the extra frozen meals, into three compact cars for transporting to families happy to feel the stress of providing a feast for the holidays melt away.

To deliver every part of the meals to The Dwelling Place clients, the delivery shift went an hour over schedule. But for the satisfaction of stocking refrigerators full of Thanksgiving goodies, it was well work the extra time.

A volunteer preps whole roasted turkeys for families at The Dwelling Place - Susan Callahan

Looking for more news on how Turkeypalooza went for other campus kitchens? Read the news stories linked below, or stay-tuned for the final numbers next week.

Turkeypalooza, University of Nebraska, Kearny

Turkeypalooza, Wake Forest University

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