W&L’s Campus Kitchen to Host Annual Turkeypalooza to Benefit Local Communities Turkeypalooza and several accompanying events will take place on campus Nov. 6–13.

By Erica Turman
October 29, 2020

The Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee University presents its annual Turkeypalooza: A Family Table Gathering Event from Nov. 6–13. Campus Kitchen runs various holiday-themed events during November.

This year, in addition to serving Thanksgiving meals at community partner sites, Campus Kitchen will distribute frozen turkeys and sides through its Mobile Food Pantry program.

The Lexington community can support these efforts. Campus Kitchen members will be collecting frozen turkeys and monetary donations on the top level of the W&L parking deck on Nov. 6 from 8 a.m. until noon.

The group will also host a “Turkeypalooza Backpack Pack-a-thon” event on Nov. 7 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in an attempt to pack around 5,000 backpacks to be distributed to Rockbridge County, Buena Vista and Lexington schools over the holidays.

Members of the community can sponsor one of the backpacking volunteers or make a monetary donation to support the Backpack Program. Contributions can be made online by selecting “Other” and writing in “Campus Kitchen” when asked where you would like to direct your gift.

“This year has been challenging for everyone, and now more than ever, Turkeypalooza is an important event that allows W&L the incredible opportunity to support our neighboring communities over the holidays,” said Ryan Brink, Campus Kitchen coordinator.

The mission of The Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee is to use service as a way to strengthen bodies, empower minds and build communities. Campus Kitchen combats hunger and promotes nutrition by recovering and reusing food that would otherwise go to waste into balanced meals for low-income community members in Rockbridge County. Volunteers also develop valuable relationships with clients.

For more information, visit the Campus Kitchen website.