More than 110 volunteers gathered Nov. 25 in the parking lot of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to provide turkeys to local charitable organizations that will then distribute them to people in need.
This is the 10th year in a row that the turkey giveaway has been held on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving at the National Shrine parking lot. The distribution is conducted each year by Poor Robert’s Mission, a charitable outreach serving those in need in the Washington area.
This year, the organization distributed a record-breaking 8,150 turkeys. “This is due to increased generosity and increased demand,” said Zachary Huke, president of the Poor Robert’s Mission board of directors and coordinator of the yearly turkey distribution.
“Because of the government shutdown, things are harder than they have been for a long time,” he said. “It seems like the fabric of society is fraying.”
The turkeys were given to a total of 116 churches, youth centers, soup kitchens, schools, homeless shelters and other social service outreaches. Those organizations will then give the turkeys to the people they serve.
Msgr. Walter Rossi, rector of the National Shrine, blessed the turkeys at the start of the giveaway and thanked the volunteers for their “efforts, kindness and generosity.”
“For 10 years, Mary’s Shrine has been pleased to partner with Poor Robert’s Mission for the annual Thanksgiving turkey distribution,” said Msgr. Walter Rossi. “This is all the more important this year when so many are struggling because of inflation, suffering the effects of the government shutdown and trying to make ends meet.”
The work of Poor Robert’s Mission began in 1967, when Bobby Abbo and patrons of his family’s Roma Restaurant raised money for the Little Sisters of the Poor. Poor Robert’s was formally established as a charity in 1981, and after Abbo’s death in 2014, his nephew, Zachary Huke, has led the outreach. Huke and his family are members of Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Potomac, Maryland.
The turkey distribution is the sole work of Poor Robert’s Mission. “This is as grassroots as you can get meeting the most basic need – the need for food,” Huke said.
Many of this year’s volunteers came from local Catholic schools. Among the volunteers loading the turkeys were students from several Catholic schools, including Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, Gonzaga College High School in Washington, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington and Mater Dei School in Bethesda.
Huke told the volunteers that the giveaway was an opportunity to make “person-to-person connections” and experience “the inherent good of doing good.”
Pointing to the record number of turkeys to be distributed, Huke said, “It is an increasingly tough world out there and it is an incredible honor to be able to do this – to give food to people who need it.”
Msgr. Rossi said that “in this season in which we give thanks to God for all that we have and receive, it is also important to give to those who are less fortunate.”
“Poor Robert’s is helping make Thanksgiving possible for many and Mary’s Shrine is delighted to provide the space to distribute the turkeys,” he said. “When we all work together, good things happen.”
