Rotary Club of Philadelphia volunteers help fund and distribute 300 Thanksgiving dinners to families in need at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children’s Turkey Drive
By Jay Pennie
It was another remarkable day at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children’s 12th annual Turkey Drive last Tuesday. Although it was cold and windy, the sun was shining bright casting warmth over the volunteers as they organized the dinners. “It’s cold out, but you don’t even feel it because you are doing such a good deed,” said “Rotary club member Marva Haye.
But, there’s something even more remarkable than what happened that day.
Rotary Club of Philadelphia members (l. to r.): Jay Pennie, Joe Batory, Ken Myers, Joan Batory, Ryan Igbanol, and Waheed Gbadamosi.
In the days before, more than 120 people came together in the spirit of Thanksgiving sharing to organize volunteers, raise and donate funds, procure fresh food, and pack Thanksgiving dinners for families in need.
“Families were excited and grateful, There were even tears of gratitude and spontaneous hugs... I just want to thank the Rotary Club of Philadelphia for helping... I love that your crew has been so supportive and are really a part of our St. Christopher family.””
The hospital serves one of the poorest communities in the country. According to the Census Reporter, the primary zip code that the hospital serves, 41% of the residents live below the poverty level. The community is also the 2nd hungriest District in the U.S and 70% of the children are obese which leads to development and social problems among the youth.
“As St. Christopher’s emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that it affected many of us individually and the hospital collectively,” said Hans Kersten MD, organizer of the event. “We realized how much our community needs and appreciates this event. There was concern this year that we might not reach our fundraising goal because of these challenges, but it was clear we made the right decision.”
To help, the Rotary Club of Philadelphia’s foundation board members rapidly approved a $2,000 lead grant to go toward the fundraising goal. Then, more than 100 other donations came from the hospital’s medical and support staff, faculty, and alumni of the St. Christopher’s community.
The club’s foundation was established in 1965 with an initial donation of $1,000 by generous and visionary members. Today, the Rotary Foundation of Philadelphia grants about $30,000 a year to organizations in need, both locally and internationally. While the Rotary Club of Philadelphia is well known for hands-on service projects ranging from preparing meals for people with medical conditions to purchasing and distributing books to schools in need, lesser known is the outreach work through the Rotary Foundation of Philadelphia, supported and operated by members.
“Participating in the Turkey Drive over the past two years has afforded me the opportunity to support our communities in Philadelphia and help provide a chance for families to truly enjoy their Thanksgiving together, said Rotary Foundation of Philadelphia board member Ken Myers. “I’m grateful to be able to give back in any way I can.” Joining Myers and Haye were long time members Joe and Joan Batory, Ryan Igbanol, Lisa Leonard, Jay Pennie, and Waheed Gbadamosi, who hails from Nigeria, but recently relocated to Philadelphia from Lawton Oklahoma. It was there that he also served in the local Rotary Club of Greater Lawton.
Twenty volunteers quickly packed 300 boxes of fresh produce from local farmers with a frozen turkey, fresh bread and a dozen eggs provided by The Common Market, a nonprofit regional food distributor whose mission is “… to connect communities to good food grown by sustainable family farmers.” Supporting the volunteers were the hospital’s security team, maintenance staff, social workers and Atlas Van Lines who provided set up and clean-up services.
“The families were excited and grateful,” said Dr. Kersten. “There were even tears of gratitude and spontaneous hugs,” Dr. Kersten added, “I just want to thank the Rotary Club of Philadelphia for helping at our Annual Turkey Dinner Drive. I love that your crew has been so supportive and are really a part of our St. Christopher family.”
There’s no doubt that the Rotary Club of Philadelphia will join this remarkable community of volunteers again next year for the 13th annual Turkey Drive.
If you are a Rotarian, I hope that you are proud of the work that we do. If you are not yet a member, contact us to join. Find out how you can become a member of the Rotary Club of Philadelphia or make a donation to the Rotary Foundation of Philadelphia.