Minneapolis turkey giveaway pops up in response to ‘tough month in the world of hunger’

With a lapse in food assistance and a higher cost of living exposing more Minnesotans to hunger, a turkey giveaway in Minneapolis on Thursday brought some welcome holiday relief.

Toddlers, teens, parents and seniors all lined up outside the Community Emergency Service (CES) building for one of 250 turkeys and sides donated by the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association.

Volunteers from CES and Second Harvest Heartland packed pounds of turkey into bags, chiming “happy Thanksgiving” as folks moved through the former church.

“It has been a very tough month in the world of hunger and food security,“ said Second Harvest Heartland CEO Sarah Moberg. ”We started with the government shutdown, we moved into a lapse of SNAP benefits being distributed and now we’re entering into a holiday season ... where record numbers of Minnesotans are struggling to afford the food they need."

Advocates planned the event in response to historic disruptions to SNAP and rising food costs affecting a growing number of Americans.

“We want people to feel joy,” said CES President Jamie Dolynchuk. “We want people to feel that they’re seen, that they’re cared for, that they have as much of a right to expect the kinds of things that every one of us would expect during the holidays.”

Dolynchuk says clients for CES, a food shelf and distribution site serving nearly 150,000 residents a year, are often single mothers who wait hours for food. Many have jobs but face what he calls a “perfect storm” of challenges for healthy and accessible food. Those challenges include inflation, rising rent and lost federal support.

“A lot of people get depressed around this time, and a lot of people’s finances are really, really bad right now with the budgets being cut,” Smith, 54, said. “The times are hard this time of year for everybody ... I think it’s important at this time in our life that everybody should do their part.”

Many volunteered time or money through Give to the Max Day, an annual fundraiser hosted by GiveMN that promotes donations to organizations and causes across Minnesota.

GiveMN CEO Jenna Ray helped pass out turkeys at Thursday’s event. She said Minnesotans had already donated more than $21 million for Give to the Max Day, and that sum could reach last year’s record of $37 million in donations.

Ray said Minnesotans can continue to help hungry neighbors by donating to GiveMN or local food shelves. Whether it’s money or time, Moberg hopes Minnesotans continue helping each other.