Utica Food Pantry turkey giveaway

The Utica Food Pantry is preparing to give away hundreds of turkeys, but needs your help to do so.

Of things this year...and now we can add another thing to the list.

The utica food pantry says it must change the way it will hold its annual turkey giveaway next week...not only in the name of safety...but as news channel two's gary liberatore shows us...it's also in the name of 'need'.

As you'll hear....the need is way up!

(gary liberatore, news channel 2) .

None tc : 45:16 "well thats right big changes coming to the utica food pantrys turkey giveaway this year.

Uticas former fire chief russ brooks, now the president of the utica food pantry, says he wishes he could do more but this year because of everything thats going on he just cant."

(nat of last year's turkey giveaway) tc : 27:36 "weve had this turkey giveaway for almost 10 years and the conditions require us this year to change our whole operation and format."

This year's turkey giveaway will be next friday, november 20th at ten a-m.

Usually it's the tuesday before thanksgiving.

(russ brooks, utica food pantry president) tc : 29:00 "the giveaway will be outside the fire house as opposed to in the past its been insideand a coupon to retrieve a turkey."

That is by far the biggest change this year...you have to have a ((coupon(( to get in the drive- thru or outdoor walk-up line.

Tc : 35:55 "this year we targeted the most needy."

Utica food pantry president russ brooks says all 500 coupons for a free turkey along with trimmings....have already been given away.

Tc : 27:50 "we dont have as many turkeys this year as we did last year to giveaway.

Last year we gave away 660 turkeys.

So this year we kind of really focused in on the needy of the community and we gave our coupons to those that are truly in need."

The pantry has identified 500 of the families most in need...and have given them coupons.

400 of those families have come through the doors of the food pantry in recent weeks for help... and the other 100... tc : 29:50 "we partner with the municipal housing, through all their tenants theyve identified those most in need and weve given out tickets to them also."

So, now is where the help comes in...to meet the need.

So far, possibly becasue of covid with so many more people out of work, the pantry has only recieved 100 turkeys.

It needs a huge push this next week of people dropping turkeys off at the main fire station on bleecker street just to be able to provide the 500 that they have given out coupons for.

Tc : 38:23 "even if they walk in with one turkey or if a business decides to give 10 or 20 or 50, for some reason when theres a great need, we try to do something like this, somebody always comes through for us."

And if they were to get more than 500 turkeys, brooks says he will figure out a way to get them to those in need, but that second type of giveaway would not take place on the giveaway day next friday...possibly in the day to follow.

Only those 500 families that have coupons will be able to get in line.

Tc : 47:50 "again the hope here is that so many turkeys will come in that they will be able to help more people than they think, so if you were out there and can help definitely donate a turkey or even a monetary donation we have all the information for you to do so on our website at wktv.com.

In utica, gary liberatore,