Outside Bethel’s Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 10041 on Saturday, Nov. 23, a team of over a dozen volunteers is hard at work passing frozen birds through passenger windows like a Thanksgiving-flavored drive thru. And things are busy.
A line of vehicles backs up along Akiak Drive and around the corner. In true Alaska fashion, it’s a drive thru with more than just cars.
“I just gave one to a snowmachiner,” said VFW auxiliary volunteer Jamie Awana. “And I just thought that was interesting. Four-wheeler, snowmachines, whatever you got –”
“People pulling a sled,” added VFW auxiliary president Nicole Beaver.
The free turkeys are part of a partnership between the VFW Auxiliary and Bethel Community Services Foundation (BCSF). It’s the team’s first-ever turkey giveaway, funded through bingo, pull tabs, and local fundraising. They purchased the turkeys from the Alaska Food Bank. In previous years, the partnership gave out produce boxes around Thanksgiving, but Beaver said that vegetables just spoil too quickly.
“So we wanted to give out turkeys, because we know turkeys are a big thing for Thanksgiving out here, and they are expensive,” Beaver said.
A free turkey saves money. This week, a 19-pound turkey is going for $53.00 at Bethel’s Alaska Commercial Company store.
“We are trying to incorporate everyone,” Awana said.
“This is not just the veterans,” added Beaver, “but the community. Everybody. Because as a community, this is important to me. This is important to us. We cannot be hungry.”
The turkeys flowed freely – anyone who wanted one could take one.
“It brings a tear to my eye,” Beaver said. “I'm out here tearing up, and I'm so glad it's not negative temperatures because my my face would be frozen right now.”
“It’s always good to do something positive for the community,” Awana said. “I think everybody needs a little uplift. And whether you need, you know, whether you have plenty of money or zero money, come get a turkey.”
Within less than half an hour, all 500 turkeys were gone.
“To put on an event like this, it takes a lot of manpower, and it takes a lot of good, caring people and organizations to put on something like this,” said Carey Atchak, the food security coordinator for BCSF. “Thank you to everybody that showed up in support of getting these out there to the table and the families that will definitely enjoy them on Thursday,” she added.
A flock of 500 turkeys descended on Bethel. And whether the birds are already defrosting for Thursday or tucked deep in a freezer for the winter, any leftovers aficionado knows the impact of a Thanksgiving turkey extends well beyond the holiday.
