Thanksgiving is a time when we get together with family and friends to celebrate and give thanks for all that we have. In the spirit of the holiday, we at CAFE held our 6th annual turkey giveaway at each of our four downtown dispensary locations. This year, we secured over 800 turkeys and distributed them on Saturday, Oct 8 in the Corso Italia, Bloor West, Harbord Village and Fort York CityPlace neighbourhoods. The lineups started early on Saturday outside each of our stores, ahead of the announced giveaway times. By the early afternoon, all turkeys were gone – happily received by a member of the community who took it home to prepare for their Thanksgiving meal.
Our staff were ready to go early in the morning. Upon the arrival of the truck carrying the turkeys, our amazing staff immediately got to work unloading the truck, setting up the boxes and engaging with the community members waiting in line. Several times throughout the day, we received kind words of encouragement and gratitude from our community members, who were thankful to receive a turkey that would no doubt feed many at their Thanksgiving Day celebrations. In light of the current economic times, CAFE is proud to have contributed to Thanksgiving Day celebrations in this manner, and bring a little light and joy to peoples’ lives.
The next stop was CAFE at 932 Bloor St, where once again we found people lining up well ahead of the turkey giveaway start time.
Our next stop was 104 Harbord St, where the staff had a little surprise waiting for us.. turkeys were handed out by a giant turkey!
Our CAFE turkey attracted lots of attention, and made for some good cheer on a chilly Saturday morning. Getting handed a turkey by a turkey was really something!
Our last stop of the day at was CAFE 68 Fort York Blvd. As with all the other locations, we found that there was a lineup of people ahead of time, eagerly waiting to receive a turkey. Our staff were on hand engaging with the crowd, letting them know about our newsletter and specials and of course, providing them with a big juicy turkey to take home for Thanksgiving dinner.
All in all, the day was a success! We handed out over 800 turkeys to members of our community, and hopefully brought joy and nourishment to many homes. We are humbled at the opportunity to serve our communities, and look forward to doing this again next year.
