MANHATTAN – Thanksgiving is just days away and some Upper East Siders have another reason to be thankful, after Council Member Ben Kallos and the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center teamed up on Monday to give away hundreds of frozen turkeys to families-in-need and public housing residents in Yorkville.
“We’ve been giving out free turkeys for eight years since I first took office, and I’m so proud that this is our biggest year yet,” said Council Member Ben Kallos.
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Joining Kallos for the turkey giveaway Monday afternoon was Council Member-elect Julie Menin, who will take his place representing the Upper East Side— as well as Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center Executive Director Gregory Morris.
The three, along with volunteers from the Neighborhood Center— which is located inside the New York City Housing Authority’s Isaac Houses and Holmes Towers developments on East 93rd Street— passed out five hundred turkeys to public housing residents and families.
Kallos says funding for nearly two-hundred of the turkeys distributed on Monday came from the council member’s office, while the rest were provided by the Food Bank for New York City, Metropolitan Hospital and generous private donors.
“By working with Greg Morris and the Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center, and their community partners, we’ve been able to help put Thanksgiving dinner on more of our neighbors’ tables than ever before,” Kallos said.
“I was so glad that we were joined by my successor, Julie Menin, who I know will be tirelessly dedicated to representing our public housing residents and seniors, and fighting hunger on the East Side.”
In addition to the five-hundred turkeys distributed at the Stanley Isaac Neighborhood Center on Monday, free turkeys were given out at NYCHA’s Lexington Houses in East Harlem and Robbins Plaza Senior Center on East 70th Street in Lenox Hill.
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According to the American Farm Bureau’s annual Thanksgiving cost survey, turkey prices are up nearly 25% this year— averaging $23.99 for a 16-pound bird.
To help families create full Thanksgiving dinner, ingredients for side dishes were also provided to neighbors-in-need who picked up turkeys on the UES today.
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