The annual Turkey Drive coordinated by the Bountiful Food Pantry and Open Doors Pantry will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. Donated turkeys can be dropped off at three locations during those hours, as detailed below.

Last year, the drive saw over 1,200 turkeys donated, along with $23,000 in funds. The effort between the two pantry programs distributed more than 22,000 pounds of food to needy families.

"The people we serve are going through a financial crisis, and unfortunately, it affects every part of their lives,” said Rebekah Anderson, executive director of the Bountiful Food Pantry. “By offering some normalcy in the form of a Thanksgiving dinner, we're offering families some peace in their financial storm. It warms my heart knowing that children who receive these turkeys will go back to school the next week and be able to share the same stories their friends do about the feast they had on Thanksgiving." 

 “If we had not received donated turkeys with last year's turkey drive, we would have handed out many boxes with mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy mix, and green beans without the bird,” Jason Wilde, director of Open Doors, said. “To serve our friends and neighbors who are struggling at this time of year, and to provide their children and families with a Thanksgiving meal, this turkey drive is essential!”

He relayed a story from last year.

“We usually distribute our Thanksgiving boxes several days before Thanksgiving Day, but last year, I was leaving my office at 6 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving, ready to relax over the Thanksgiving weekend, when my phone rang, and it was a local principal who told me that he just heard about a family whose children attended his elementary school who had nothing for Thanksgiving and he asked if he could help. I met him at our food bank 20 minutes later and handed him a box, including a large turkey and all of the fixings. He delivered the Thanksgiving meal box to the family's home and called me immediately to say that the mother, whose husband had been recently laid off, cried with joy to experience firsthand the generosity of our community to bless her family, which included three children all in elementary school.”

Turkeys and fixings for Thanksgiving dinners can be dropped off at the Bountiful Food Pantry, 480 East 150 North; the Open Doors Food Pantry, 875 East U.S. 193 in Layton; and at the LDS Church at 270 Burton Lane in Kaysville.