By Amy White
The Texas Catholic
As the “heavy lifting arm” of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Parish in McKinney — called upon to paint, move, and build, and to otherwise shoulder projects for the church community — the St. Gabriel Men’s Club has put its brawn to the service of the parish’s Turkey Basket Program for the past 25 years.
Through the program, St. Gabriel the Archangel annually gifts hundreds of Thanksgiving meals to low-income families in north Texas, allowing them to gather in gratitude over a delectable spread. This year, the parish is set to distribute approximately 400 “turkey baskets,” cardboard boxes filled with the traditional holiday fixings, during its Nov. 22 distribution day.
“People are in need during the Thanksgiving time of the year,” longtime Men’s Club member Joey Ah Sam said, “and we’re a church, you know. We always help people out when they need help.”
Labor of love
Assembling and distributing the turkey baskets each year is a labor of love for the Men’s Club, members said. From packing boxes to transferring turkeys, the Turkey Basket Program relies upon the manpower of the service group — and its brainpower, too — to plan and execute the major undertaking on time.
Preparations can begin as early as three months in advance of the distribution day, Ah Sam shared, as the Men’s Club marks a date on the calendar, arranges ambo announcements, and creates web pages for volunteer signups and donations — an important step for a program that can cost as much as $25,000 in a year, according to project lead Michael Eric Simon.
“Every dollar,” Simon shared, “comes from the generous members of St. Gabriel Catholic Church.”
Ahead of the annual turkey basket distribution, the service group collects meal items and hauls hundreds of turkeys to the parish on the back of a flatbed truck. This system is a noted upgrade from the earlier method of manually scanning individual turkeys at the grocery store and loading them one by one into trucks.
“It took three hours to go through 200 turkeys like that,” Ah Sam remarked, recalling those earlier years of turkey shopping.
With the materials gathered, the Men’s Club then stages and stacks the boxes with the help of volunteers, adding cans of green beans and corn, sweet and mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce, and other Thanksgiving accoutrements to the turkey baskets.
“The Women’s Club of St. Gabriel’s is adding in napkins and prayer cards … as well as an invitation to come to Mass” to mark the 25th anniversary of the program, Men’s Club president Kent Montgomery added. “They wanted to make it a little special.”
A community effort
Much like the preparation period, the Nov. 22 distribution day is a community effort, according to Men’s Club members. As cars file onto the St. Gabriel campus to pick up their turkey baskets, a team of volunteers — from parish staff to parishioners to priests — is on hand to offer a warm greeting and to load the Thanksgiving goods into trunks.
“Volunteer spots are quickly filled — not only by our Men’s Club members but also by parish families eager to take part in this special event,” said Father Eugene Okoli, St. Gabriel the Archangel pastoral administrator. “It’s truly a joy for everyone involved to provide a Thanksgiving meal for those who might otherwise go without.”
Volunteers also assist elderly recipients who cannot drive to the baskets by driving the baskets to them. Some volunteers, Montgomery said, may even add “flowers or candy or cards from their kids” to the deliveries.
“Our volunteers go the extra mile to make this happen, because they know the importance of loving God and our neighbors,” said Father Juan Mendez, St. Gabriel the Archangel’s parochial vicar. “This is something that is a blessing for many people who are counting on these meals to have a dignified Thanksgiving meal.”
Reflecting on the Turkey Basket Program’s quarter century of operation, during which the St. Gabriel the Archangel community has essentially quadrupled its output, Men’s Club members said they felt grateful to have the opportunity to help hundreds of families each year spend their holiday over a traditional meal.
“As they’re eating it,” Montgomery said, “we’re always imagining and hoping that they’re realizing that there’s people out there that care.”
“It’s a labor of love. It’s a lot of work,” he said of the program, but “at the end of it, you look at the list of the people that you helped, and you realize that they’re all having, hopefully, a meal with family around, laughing, enjoying watching football, doing all the things that you’re supposed to do at Thanksgiving.”
Cutline for featured image: Members of the St. Gabriel Men’s Club pose for a picture after hauling pallets for a Turkey Basket Program distribution. (St. Gabriel Men’s Club photo)
