BOSTON
- Monday, November 20, 2023 - Today, Mayor Michelle Wu announced that
the City of Boston is helping families during the holiday season through
its annual Thanksgiving turkey distribution, delivering 2,000 turkeys and
5,000 pounds of food to Boston residents in need. This year, the City
doubled the number of turkeys donated to community members and
organizations compared to last year. The turkey drive is led by the Mayor’s
Office of Neighborhood Services (ONS) with the support of its neighborhood
liaisons to hand deliver turkeys to more than 40 partners including local
community organizations, churches, and Boston Housing Authority sites who
then distribute to residents experiencing food insecurity. The City is also
encouraging residents to participate in the recently launched Nourish Our
Neighbors initiative, connecting residents to local
volunteer opportunities promoting food justice. Today, Mayor Wu joined
liaisons at CommonWealth Kitchen to help pack and prepare the turkey
donations. The City received support for turkeys from Stop
& Shop, Amazon, and UFCW 1445.
“As
we celebrate the special traditions and connection of the holidays, we want
to ease the burden for Boston families in need to enjoy a wonderful
Thanksgiving meal,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “I’m grateful to
continue our annual tradition of partnering with community groups to get
turkeys out to families, and will continue working for food access across
all our neighborhoods year-round.”
ONS
liaisons and City staff helped deliver turkeys across Boston on Friday,
November 17 and Monday, November 20.
“Today,
all of these turkeys here mean an awful lot to the residents in our
development who can really use an extra pick me up during the holiday,”
said Lisa Frazier, Manager at Boston Housing Authority. “I just
say thank you to everyone who made this possible for our residents here at
South Street. We, the South Street community, appreciate you and say thank
you.”
“The
City’s Thanksgiving turkey donations is one of our most crucial community
centered events of the year. It provides the City an opportunity to extend
a warm and direct gesture of giving in the lives of residents in need,”
said Office of Neighborhood Services Executive Director Beata
Coloyan. “No family in need should go without a nutritious meal on
their table in our city any day, but especially during the holiday season.”
“CommonWealth
Kitchen is proud to support Mayor Wu's efforts to feed families across the
City this Thanksgiving,” said Jen Faigel, Executive Director of
CommonWealth Kitchen. “For CWK, it's a natural continuation of our
CommonTable meals initiative, which distributed nearly 300K meals for
families in need throughout the pandemic, and continues today through our
member businesses who are involved in feeding immigrants and refugees all
across eastern Massachusetts. As we like to say, ‘if you have more than you
need, build a longer table, not a higher fence.”
The
Thanksgiving turkey distribution is one of the City of Boston’s efforts to
ensure community members have access to fresh, healthy, and affordable
foods. The City of Boston’s Office of Food Justice and Office of Civic
Organizing recently launched their Nourish Our
Neighbors initiative, a call to action encouraging
community members to help receive, sort, pack, and deliver groceries to
their neighbors throughout the City to help bridge food access gaps.
The Nourish Our Neighbors initiative provides
opportunities for residents to volunteer their time in support of
community-based food access initiatives throughout the City. Residents can
get connected to volunteer opportunities in their neighborhood by
completing this form.
“While
this time of year brings food insecurity to the forefront for many, the
City of Boston and its community partners are committed to ensuring our
residents have equitable access to fresh, nutritious, culturally-relevant
foods every day of the year,” said Aliza Wasserman, Director of the
Office of Food Justice. “I am grateful to our partners for their
steadfast commitment to centering equitable food access that is rooted in
community needs.”
The
City of Boston encourages residents in need of food resources to call 311
or 617-635-4500. Community members in need can find multilingual
Thanksgiving resources at the Office of Food Justice partners’ Thanksgiving
Resource Guide. To address ongoing food
insecurity refer to the Greater Boston Food Bank’s food pantry
finder or call Project Bread’s Food Source Hotline
at 1-800-645-8333.
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