About 100 volunteers gathered Nov. 26 – two days before Thanksgiving – in the parking lot of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to provide turkeys to local charitable organizations that will then distribute them to people in need.
This is the ninth year in a row that the turkey giveaway has been held at the National Shrine. The distribution was conducted by Poor Robert’s Mission, a charitable outreach serving those in need in the Washington area.
The turkeys were given to a total of 108 churches, youth centers, soup kitchens, schools, homeless shelters and other social service outreaches. Those organizations will then give the turkeys to the people they serve.
The work of Poor Robert’s Mission began in 1967, when Bobby Abbo and patrons of his family’s Roma Restaurant raised money for the Little Sisters of the Poor. Poor Robert’s was formally established as a charity in 1981, and after Abbo’s death in 2014, his nephew, Zachary Huke, has led the outreach.
“We are giving a record-breaking 7,500 turkeys,” Huke said at the start of this year’s distribution. “Each turkey will feed 10 people, so that is 75,000 people who will eat.”
Huke noted that the turkey distribution is the sole work of Poor Robert’s Mission.
“This (turkey giveaway) is our single day of the year. This is our Super Bowl because we are a charity that is very focused on giving turkeys to those who need them,” he said.
Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory met with volunteers and Poor Robert’s Mission board members as they filled cars, vans, trucks and other vehicles with turkeys destined for families in need. He offered a blessing over volunteers, the turkeys, the donors and those who would receive the food.
Many of the volunteers came from local Catholic and other schools.
“I want to thank all of you who have made this possible, especially our young people,” Cardinal Gregory said. “Thank you for taking this opportunity to help those less fortunate than we are.”
The cardinal noted that this year marks the fifth year that he has attended the giveaway. “Five years and I have not been listed as one of the turkeys – so far,” he quipped.
