Members of the Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke delivered frozen turkeys and the ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner to those in need in Catalina, Oracle, San Manual, and Mammoth.
Rotary Club: Delivering Thanksgiving to 260 Homes
Barbara Barr
For many a Rotarian in the Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke, the best part of Thanksgiving comes several days before the actual holiday. The best part of Thanksgiving is when we help about 260 area families with turkeys and all the fixings for their holiday. Working with IMPACT of Southern Arizona, the Elks Club, and the Oro Valley Interact Club, we deliver “turkey kits” to area families who may find it challenging to put a Thanksgiving meal on the table.
For weeks before Thanksgiving, the staff of IMPACT of Southern Arizona gathers all the goodies needed to make a Thanksgiving dinner. The day of the delivery, members of the Elks Club spend the morning dividing all the groceries into turkey kits for the IMPACT clients. Then the Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke has the very best job. We get to meet all the clients and load up their cars with a kit, which has all the fixings for a fabulous Thanksgiving meal.
The past two years, the Golden Goose Thrift Shop has provided their outdoor facilities for the turkey kit delivery. This provided social distancing during the pandemic. Members of the Oro Valley Interact Club (high school Rotary program) set up the cones and directed traffic. Meanwhile, the Rotarians checked in the vetted clients and delivered the Thanksgiving goodies.
Yes, this is the best part of Thanksgiving for many members of the SaddleBrooke Rotary Club. But it’s just one of so many ways that we make a difference in the lives of others, both globally and locally. It’s so wonderful to be a part of a group that gathers as friends to make the world a better place.