Tom’s Turkey Drive carries on tradition of giving Thanksgiving meals with new setup at food banks

Tom’s Turkey Drive looked a little different this year, but still gave thousands of families in need a full meal for Thanksgiving.

Rather than one huge drive-thru at the fairgrounds, Second Harvest distributed meal boxes and turkeys to more than 20 local food banks and community centers throughout the Spokane area.

Second Harvest made the change in order to bring the food closer to families who need it, Community Partnerships Director Eric Williams said.

Named for retired KREM 2 News chief meteorologist Tom Sherry, the holiday food drive is in its 24th year.

On Tuesday afternoon, cars pulled through one of the distribution centers, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Food Bank in the East Central neighborhood, where volunteers from Second Harvest loaded boxes in their backseats and trunks.

“Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!” one woman said through her window. “Thank you for your kindness.”

The food bank gave out 200 meal kits that included a frozen turkey, stuffing, rolls, cranberry sauce and other food for a feast.

“It’s a great meal that is put together,” volunteer Mistie Gillen said. She got involved about 10 years ago when her employer at the time sponsored the program.

“There aren’t as many meals to share this year, so that part is heartbreaking,” Gillen said.

Second Harvest was able to distribute 6,800 Thanksgiving meals, compared to more than 11,000 last year.

Shoppers at Rosauers could donate a meal added to their grocery bill.

Due to limited supply this year, families had to sign up for the pickup beforehand. The preregistration with timeslots eliminated long lines and facilitated an orderly flow through the small parking lot.

“I’m just happy to be a part this year,” said Freda Gandy, director of the MLK Community Center.

Gandy took an active role in the drive-thru, checking cars in from the street and calling out to the volunteers what they needed. She said it makes sense for neighborhood food banks to help with the distribution, since this is where the people who need food already come .

“Hopefully this way we are capturing the population of people who rely on food banks,” Gandy said.

Williams said Second Harvest is on track to deliver about 35 million pounds of food across its 26-county service area this calendar year, which is about the same as last year.

While there were some changes this year, Williams noted that the turkey drive has evolved quite a bit over time. It used to be in an empty lot before moving to the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, then the county fairgrounds.

“Every year we are trying new things to be more efficient,” Williams said.