WINSTON-SALEM -- A Wake Forest University tradition gives people a reason to be thankful this time of year.
Students, faculty and staff are participating in the annual Turkeypalooza. Every year volunteers cook at The Campus Kitchen and deliver Thanksgiving dinners to many who may not get one otherwise.
"Without the Turkeypalooza event, a lot of these people would not be receiving Thanksgiving meals,” said Brittni Milner, a student organizer.
The week long event is hosted by The Campus Kitchen. It’s a university program that salvages food and delivers meals to Triad area community organizations including Samaritan Ministries, Azalea Terrace Senior Apartments and El Buen Pastor Latino Community Services.through out the year.
"And so we're really taking excess food that we have on here campus and with in our community and trying to distribute it in to areas that have low access to foods,” said Brad Shugoll, overseeer of The Campus Kitchen.
Turkeypalooza coincides with National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Volunteers also want to raise awareness about food insecurity in Winston-Salem.
"Winston-Salem is definitely an area that has a high concentration of food deserts,” Shugoll said. “I think there are 12 or 13 identified through out the city."
Volunteers expect to prepare and deliver roughly 400 meals this week.