Parker’s annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive made it to its 25th anniversary this year. The drive was started in 2000 by former Parker student Charlotte Spencer. “It was an independent civic engagement type of a project,” Upper School history teacher Kevin Conlon said. After Spencer graduated from Parker in 2000, Conlon was asked to take over the drive, “I remember getting involved somehow…he was graduating, and [so] I…[suggested that we] stay in touch,” Conlon said. The turkey drive works with an organization called the Midwest Workers’ Association. The organization helps low income families in the south side of Chicago. In addition to food, Midwest Workers’ help Chicagoans with low income to be able to get new clothes if needed. “They [have]had a closet so you know, let’s say I’m going for a job interview, [and. I don’t have a decent pair of pants. Oh, let me go down to the Midwest Workers [and get a pair],” Conlon said. Twenty five years later, the overall idea of the drive has not changed. “The Thanksgiving drive is a very nice thing for the school,” sophomore Miriam Blasko said. “I think it’s amazing that we are able to help people who may not be as lucky as others to have a nice Thanksgiving meal.” The goal of the Turkey Drive is to provide a Thanksgiving meal for those who might not be able to afford it.
Making meals available would not happen without the help of the students and faculty at Parker. “I felt very informed [about the drive] since Mr. Conlon advertised it quite a bit.…Everyone definitely knew [about it],” Blasko said. Conlon advertises the Thanksgiving Turkey Drive at every MX that occurs before the end of the drive, asking students to buy turkeys or hams and other traditional Thanksgiving foods and to bring them into the kitchen at school and to the donation bins by the entrances. “Mr. Conlon, he organizes it, he’s in the background of all of it. All I do is say that yes, you can store everything in our freezer, and then pick it up at the end of the week,” Food Service Director Chef Zac Maness said. Maness makes sure that the turkeys and hams brought in do not spoil before they can be donated to the Midwest Workers’ Association.
“I think probably people feel like…if I bring in a couple of cans, it’s not going to make that much of a difference, but if everybody did that, it would make a huge difference,” Conlon said. “Bringing one thing can make a huge difference [rather] than bringing nothing at all.” The Thanksgiving Turkey Drive, created by Charlotte Spencer, has brought joy to low income families throughout Chicago for the past 25 years.
