Thanksgiving Turkey Shortage for Recession-Hit Families

Turkey donations plummet as bad economy and higher prices hit charities.

ByABC News
November 15, 2010, 2:38 AM

DENVER, Nov. 15, 2010— -- On a busy downtown street, Scott Croft and a team of volunteers from the Denver Rescue Mission are eagerly standing by, waiting for the seasonal stream of drivers who usually pull over this time of year to unload thousands of donated frozen turkeys.

This year, they've done a lot of waiting.

"We've gotten kind of a slow start," says Croft, pacing the side of the road wearing a bright yellow safety vest.

From California to Connecticut, food banks and charities nationwide report that donations of frozen turkeys—the cornerstone of a traditional Thanksgiving meal — have fallen dramatically this holiday season.

"This year has been really tough," said Denver Rescue Mission's Greta Walker. "We started the turkey drive on November 1 and about ten days into it, we had zero turkeys. And I started to get really worried."

As of late Sunday, the mission was still 2,000 turkeys short of its goal.

To get the word out Walker has started blitzing Denver's local airwaves, appearing on radio shows and giving TV and newspaper interviews. She's also combing her Rolodex, dialing up past corporate donors and some of Denver's professional teams and athletes hoping she can help reach a goal of collecting 6,000 turkeys before Thanksgiving.

"We know that people have been struggling with the economy," said Walker. "We can tell with our numbers everyday. Our meal service programs have gone up 20 percent. People may be a little tighter with their pocketbooks this year."

Walker says the turkey shortage ripples out to smaller charities around the Denver area. That's because each year, the Denver Rescue Mission provides 5,000 turkeys to about 80 other charities and organizations including Volunteers of America.

Last year the Colorado branch of Volunteers of America asked the Denver Rescue Mission for 200 turkeys. Due to a growing need this year, they're now asking for 1,000 frozen birds.

"Across the board, need is going up and people are tightening their wallets," said Allison Kuthy of Volunteers of America. "It gets tough to do our jobs."

Kuthy says the shortage this year means Volunteers of America may have to dig into its own pocket to make up the turkey gap, taking money away from other important programs.

"When turkey donations are down, it means we can't provide the same kind of services we normally provide in the community," Kuthy said. "Things like services for seniors, the homeless, children and victims of domestic violence."