MISSOULA — At the Missoula Food Bank & Community Center's annual turkey distribution on Sunday, volunteers ensured more Missoulians would have healthy holiday food to gobble up this Thanksgiving.
“We're giving out over 2,000 turkeys to the households in Missoula that might not be able to afford Thanksgiving without us,” said Cheyenne Hoyle, store operations support at Missoula Food Bank & Community Center.
The morning cold did not keep people, or their holiday spirit, away. Birds started flying out the door at 9 a.m.. Soon, the line was backed up from the Food Bank, on Wyoming Street, up the Russel Street Bridge to Broadway. Volunteers quickly jumped in to help with traffic control.
“It's been a little chilly, but it's been great," Hoyle said. "Everybody's so friendly this morning. Everybody's in good spirits. We know that Thanksgiving is about to be happening. Just being here today and helping so many people has been awesome and just a wonderful experience. The energy is here.”
With last year’s feeding over a thousand families, the turkey distribution is a memorable event for volunteers, staff and diners.
Scott Derenburger, with the Sentinel Kiwanis, handed out birds for a third year in a row. Volunteering at the food bank is more than a one-day activity for Derenburger.
“I work at the Food Bank two hours a week on Tuesdays from one to three," he said. "This is just an extension of that. It's a lot of fun just helping the community."
Plenty of volunteers were at the event to pass out the birds and their fixings, which included stuffing, pumpkin pie and more. But, helping Missoula stay fed goes way beyond the holidays.
“The Food Bank is short volunteers, I believe," Derenburger said. "They require you to just work a minimum of two hours a week and a maximum of four hours a week. Contact them if you want to help out here because there's a lot of great people.”
