Brother, Can You Spare a Turkey?

Sometimes when you try to help others respond to the needs of homeless and at-risk families, the most practical requests are the best requests. I think it’s because people can really get their arms around such requests, frankly.

Take turkeys, for instance. As might be expected, turkeys are a mainstay item in holiday food boxes distributed here at the Mission. If a turkey happens to have, say, 12 pounds of meat on it once you’re past the bones and parts you don’t use, a family of three can use the meat as the basis of a meal for about 10 family meals after their Thanksgiving dinner. That’s right: every medium-sized turkey, if used judiciously, can supply protein for a total of 33 individual meals without skimping.

That’s why food pantries, Gospel missions, halfway houses and our neighbors in need get really excited when they see a turkey coming their way. Yes, it could mean a family or individual gets to enjoy a more traditional Thanksgiving meal. That’s certainly to the plus side of the ledger. But these days, more people think about the turkey’s total nutritional impact. For all the whining many of us did about leftover turkey as we were growing up, for an increasing number of families that bird could supply almost a week’s worth of protein.

I’m not suggesting that everyone goes into the detailed mathematics of food dispersion before they donate a turkey. But especially in seasons where supermarkets make turkeys a loss leader or bonus item, they can easily become a strategic and welcome part of a holiday food basket that often lasts a family in need for a week. Generous people who bring just one turkey to benefit homeless or at-risk families make a huge difference for those who often choose between paying for food and paying for utilities, medicine, or school supplies.

So thanks to all of you who answered “Yes!” to the question, “Brother, can you spare a turkey?” this Thanksgiving. You made a larger impact than you probably thought. (You can calculate that difference by multiplying how many turkeys you donated times 11 family meals or times 33 individual meals like we did above, by the way.) And if you missed your chance to get your turkey into a food box this week…well, Christmas and a fresh round of holiday food boxes are just a few weeks away.