Operation Turkey Houston is gearing up to prepare and deliver more than 8,300 Thanksgiving feasts to Texas families in need.
Tim Stroud of Cypress, Texas, recently told the Houston Chronicle the project involves over 1,000 volunteers, numerous community sponsors, and smoking 65,000 pounds of turkey.
Stroud noted that especially this year, the community needs to let people see there is hope, and the need is massive.
“It speaks to the state we are in our country to where sadly we’re facing an inflation that hurts a lot of people because last year, turkeys were 89 cents a pound; now when we called to see if we could source more turkeys, they’re $1.49 a pound,” he explained.
Stroud is among the volunteers heading up the initiative in Houston, and some of the volunteers are veterans, according to Stroud, who is a United States Army Combat Medic veteran.
“Rotary District Governor 5890 is Michelle Bohreer and she has 64 Rotary Clubs underneath her command and over half of them have donated resources — either cash, sites, or in-kind gifts, or just rolled up their sleeves,” Stroud told the Chronicle.
Operation Turkey Houston needs more volunteers to show up on Wednesday and Thursday to assist in preparing, packaging, and delivering the Thanksgiving meals.
On Friday, the group shared an infographic calling for more volunteers and detailing times and locations:
Tim Stroud, Myrna Trevino, Will Hernandez, Will Oldmixon, Hector R. Giron, Bob Gebhard
Posted by Operation Turkey Houston on Friday, November 19, 2021
“Come join us for some fun as we prepare meals to be delivered on Thanksgiving Day to the homeless and less fortunate,” the post reads.
Volunteers and partners make the event possible, which included sponsors, namely Rotary District 5890 Katy Rotary, Walgreens, the Houston Police Officers’ Union, Goya, Unified Residential, and more, the Chronicle article said.
“This year more than ever we need to show people that there’s hope and that we live in an amazing community where people are willing to give of their time and resources to make sure that somebody has a great Thanksgiving meal,” Stroud concluded.
Meanwhile, neighbors in East Texas are also lending a hand to help others amid crippling inflation costs, KETK reported.
“The CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System partnered with Houston Temple Church of God in Christ to give away 700 Greenberg turkeys. The original plan was to give away 500 turkeys but after seeing how many people showed up and waited hours in line, they ordered 200 more,” KETK said.
“It’s a nice change of pace; usually in the hospital they are in agony,” Ryan Tamula, Administrative Director at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances, explained. “Here, everyone’s smiling and ready to chow down.”
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