Peterborough Lions Club Continuing Holiday Traditions With Annual Great Turkey Exchange

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The East Peterborough Lions Club is making sure everyone is fed this holiday season with its Great Turkey Exchange.

The Great Turkey Exchange operated from 2009 until 2020. The program went on hiatus in 2021 after supply chain shortages made it difficult to get donations. The East Peterborough Lions Club has picked up the torch to continue the grassroots program. Photo courtesy of the East Peterborough Lions Club.

The Club is coordinating the collection and distribution of turkeys and hams for hungry families this Christmas.

The program has delivered over 17,000 Christmas dinners in the Peterborough area. Most of the turkeys and hams donated to the program came from individuals and businesses who recognize a traditional Christmas meal's sentimental and nutritional value.

“Our club has helped out by delivering turkeys to groups and we saw how grateful people are to have strangers help feed their families,” said Frank Hewitt, East Peterborough Lions Club president. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue the program and fill such a great need in our community.”

The community can help in two ways:

  • Donate turkeys and hams (for those who don’t have access to an oven)

  • Donate cash to purchase these items

Donations will be welcomed at Kawartha Food Share at 665 Neal Dr. or by pickup if you email your address to greatturkeyexchange@gmail.com.

The food items will be distributed to families who cannot afford a turkey or ham and would have to go without them. Families in this situation should email greatturkeyexchange@gmail.com and ask to be on the donation list.

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East Peterborough Lions Club Great Turkey Exchange Successfully Delivered 65 Turkeys and 10 Hams to Families for Christmas

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There were 65 turkeys and 10 hams delivered to needy families thanks to the East Peterborough Lions Club’s Great Turkey Exchange during December.

Photo courtesy of the East Peterborough Lions Club.

The club saw that requests were down from last year. Several turkeys and hams donated came from individuals, businesses and service clubs.

“While we love providing for the people of Peterborough, it always makes us sad to see the need for help each year. We were so happy to be able to provide help to make their Christmas a little brighter and play a small part of the joy in the season,” said Lion Frank Hewitt, Club service chair. “One thing that we found incredible this year was for the first time since we began working with this program, we had people calling and letting us know they received turkeys from another source and asked us to remove them from the list. That allowed us to be able to supply another family with a turkey or ham for their meal.”

The club also donated hygiene packages to the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) on Dec. 22. The club was contacted by the PRHC and said they were running out of emergency supplies according to a Facebook post.

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East Peterborough Lions Club Seeking Turkey and Ham Donations For Its Great Turkey Exchange

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The East Peterborough Lions Club is collecting donations and distributing turkeys and hams as part of their The Great Turkey Exchange for hungry families this Christmas.

Lions Theresa Hewitt (left) and Lucas (right) during last year’s Great Turkey Exchange. Photo courtesy of the East Peterborough Lions Club.

The program operated from 2009 until 2020 but went on hiatus in 2021 after supply chain shortages made it difficult to get donations according to the Lions Club. Now, the East Peterborough Lions Club is picking up the torch to continue the grassroots program, previously run by Volunteer Peterborough founder Lois Tuffin.

The program has delivered 17,500 Christmas dinners in the Peterborough area as stated in a press release.

“Our club has helped out by delivering turkeys to groups and we saw how grateful people are to have strangers help feed their families,” says Frank Hewitt, District Governor of District A-3. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to resuscitate the program and fill such a great need in our community.”

The community can help in two ways:

  • Donate turkeys and hams (for those who don’t have access to an oven)

  • Donate cash to purchase these items

Donations will be welcomed at Kawartha Food Share at 665 Neal Dr. or by pickup if you email your address to greatturkeyexchange@gmail.com.

The food items will be distributed to families who cannot afford a turkey or ham and would have to go without them. Families in this situation should email greatturkeyexchange@gmail.com and ask to be on the donation list.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.