It Started With One
 Operation Turkey was started on Thanksgiving in 2000. It wasn't called Operation Turkey back then. It was a guy plating up extra food after eating a Thanksgiving meal at a friend's house and handing it out to a homeless person.
- That year, I drove to downtown Austin on my way home and handed out the plate of food to a homeless man in a wheelchair on 6th street. He couldn't say thank you because he was mentally challenged, but the guy next to him said thank you and helped feed it to him. Afterwards I sat and cried in my car. From then on I was hooked.
Here are the yearly stats for the program for my group only. They do not include other Operation Turkey programs in Austin and around the country.
- In 2001 I handed out 2 dinners. We doubled the previous year!
- In 2002 we handed out 4 dinners, 2 coats and a blanket.
- In 2003 we handed out 8 dinners and all of the coats and blankets we could find.
- In 2004 we handed out 16 dinners and an equal number of coats and blankets.
- In 2005 we handed out 75 dinners and clothed over 105 people thanks to the support of friends and family.
The 9 other cities reported back numbers that pushed Operation Turkey to levels never before imagined.
- Thanks to the fine folks at KUT, 2006's volunteer drive brought in over 250 requests to volunteer. We had so many that we brought in Leibel Harelik as our Director of Volunteers.
We have had several churches and companies join Operation Turkey in 2006. They included Fusion Learning Systems, Remote Operations, the Accounting Group, Young Hispanic Professional Austin Association and the Parmer Oaks Dental Care.
We fed over 500 people in 2006
- Our goal for 2007 was to feed between 2,000 - 3,000 people in Austin. In order to accomplish this goal we put on our first ever music event. We had a great turnout for the Keep Austin Fed Music Fest ( www.keepaustinfed.com ) which was hosted by Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill ( www.bikinissportsbarandgrill.com ).
The second event was the Austin Yam Jam - www.austinyamjam.com that had Ruthie Foster, porterdavis, Bruce Robison, Carolyn Wonderland, Jeff Plankenhorn and Patrice Pike. It was held at Threadgills World Headquarters ( www.threadgills.com ).
We raised enough money to buy food for 3,000 people. Washington Mutual (WAMU) donated 250 backpacks and water bottles for kids, Fusion Learning Systems filled those backpacks with toiletries and our 600 volunteers fed over 3,000 people.
We also had groups in 20 other cities running their own Operation Turkey.
- Our goal for 2008 was to feed 3,500 people in Austin. In order to accomplish this goal we put on our second annual Austin Yam Jam ( www.austinyamjam.com ) with porterdavis, Guy Forsyth, Carolyn Wonderland and Mingo Fishtrap.
Horizon Bank donated 100 smoked turkeys in 2008. We created the Turkey Tailgate to celebrate the donation. It worked great and we raised over 3,000 pounds of clothing donations. Employer Solutions Group ( www.esgtexas.com ), Austin Office Space ( www.austinofficespace.com ), Dizzy Tee Designs ( www.dizzytees.com ) and J. Walton Media ( www.jwaltonmedia.com ) sponsored the event. Savvy Vodka ( www.savvyvodka.com ), Red Bull ( www.redbullusa.com ) and Miller Lite ( www.millerlite.com )graciously provided free drinks at the Turkey Tailgate.
The events raised enough money to buy food for 3,500 people. Over 1,700 people registered as volunteers and we had over 1,200 volunteers show up Thanksgiving morning (spread between the two locations). The 1,200 volunteers fed 3,500 people. The program was a huge success thanks to Brian Perkins (Director of Donations) and Amanda Lee (Coordinator).
We also had groups in 25 other cities running their own Operation Turkey.
We don't do it for recognition. We do it because the people we hand the dinners, coats and blankets say thank you and truly mean it. We want everyone in our community and other communities to start their own Operation Turkey.
Please start your own Operation Turkey. Let's help out our respective communities. Click on the Intro Packet below for more information about the program.
Thank you.
Richard M. Bagdonas
Executive Director
Operation Turkey
richard@operationturkey.com
Inquiries? Contact info@operationturkey.com
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Welcome to Operation Turkey
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DONATE TO
OPERATION TURKEY
Operation Turkey delivers Thanksgiving dinners to the homeless and less fortunate people in our communities.
We need your help - from food donations, preparation and delivery - we have a need for volunteers.
Please click the link in the upper right hand corner to become a volunteer.
Here are some of the cities that wonderful people will be handing out dinners:
Austin, TX
Beaumont, TX
Dallas, TX
Grass Valley, NV
Houston, TX
Manassas, VA
New Orleans, LA
Newport Beach, CA
Newport News, VA
Pottstown, PA
Rapid City, SD
Round Rock, TX
San Antonio, TX
San Marcos, TX
Temple, TX
Waco, TX
Woodbridge, VA
Thank you to SurfMySite, Inc. ( www.surfmysite.com ) for sponsoring our website each year.
Operation Turkey is a non-profit organization that accepts donations that are 100% used to purchase food for the homeless at Thanksgiving.
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