A Turkey Drive was held on November 21 at the Manhasset Water District to gather food for families in need for Thanksgiving. The event was funded by multiple local organizations, including Shoprite of New Hyde Park, who generously donated 1,100 turkeys, canned vegetables, stuffing, gravy, dessert, and other Thanksgiving-related food items. 

Volunteers from the Key Club and the Interact Club from North volunteered, but the event was open to everyone. Other organizations assisted in the event, such as the Rotary Club of Great Neck, a local community service organization, as well as girls and boys scout troops.

Junior Kaitlin Lam said, “I was very hesitant to go because it was my first year and was nervous at first but after I felt great and energized.”

Volunteers would fill bags with a variety of items to be sent to a family in need. A production line was formed at the event, where volunteers would walk around to each station to put all of the items in their bag, and repeated this process over 20 times. Over 1,000 families were provided with Thanksgiving meals. Generously, multiple moms put together a table with snacks for the kids and adults volunteering to help. 

“After we packaged all the food I felt accomplished because I saw all the food laying out in boxes from the beginning and at the end all the food was in bags getting ready to be delivered to families,” said junior Christine Zhou.

All is well with snacks, candy, and drinks keeping the youth incentivized to keep going through the assembly line and filling bags. However, most volunteers were inspired solely by the opportunity to give back to their own community. 

“I would definitely go again because by doing this I am positively impacting many families for Thanksgiving, and giving back to my community” Zhou said. 

Many students expressed a positive experience at the event, and along with that, their excitement to participate again next year. 

Lam said “I would definitely go again. It was a lot of fun and everyone there was so positive. It was like hanging out with your friends but at the same time you were doing something good for others.”

Not only did the students enjoy working together to better the community, but they even reported making new friends, mingling as they walked through and helped the cause of bringing the joy of Thanksgiving to hundreds of families.