Foodshare Reaches Thanksgiving Turkey Collection Goal

The following press release was submitted by Foodshare.

As of this morning, Foodshare was still more than 2,000 turkeys shy of the 20,000 goal, and the organization was contemplating the need to turn away clients who had requested a turkey. But in a remarkable last-minute surge, people flooded Foodshare’s Bloomfield facility donating every last turkey in the span of four hours. That included people who had donated earlier, heard that the campaign was coming up short, and went out to buy still more turkeys. Office coworkers pooled their money, friends got together, and even the press that came to cover the story stopped and bought turkeys on the way to Foodshare.

“The generosity of the people of greater Hartford is truly remarkable,” saysFoodshare President Gloria McAdam. “But it was close. Historically, Mondayhas been our busiest day, often meeting our goal that same evening. But this year the parking lot was quiet, until today. That’s never happened. And while we’re enormously grateful it did finally happen, we were nervous.”

Achieving the turkey goal is a major accomplishment, but the money goal has a significant distance to go. As of today, Foodshare had a total of $614,131 donated, leaving another $300,000 to be raised before the end of November. This money will fund Foodshare’s hunger work throughout the year, and hitting the goal is crucial. Donations can be made in person, online at www.foodshare.org, or through the mail.

To help offset such last-minute drama, Lincoln Financial has generously donated $30,000 to help launch Foodshare’s Turkey Club—a new, recurring gift program through which people can donate money for a turkey and thirty each month. This lets people make a larger contribution while spreading the expense over time. It also allows Foodshare to have a stockpile of turkeys ahead of time.

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