Turkey exchange a Sudbury tradition

It’s a Holiday tradition at the Rainbow District School Board as vehicles met in the Delki Dozzi Parking lot to make an exchange of turkeys.

The turkeys for families initiative happened Thursday in Sudbury with the handoff of hundreds of frozen birds in the Delki Dozzi parking lot.

Vehicles from the Rainbow District School Board met with Matt’s Plumbing to exchange frozen turkeys.

“I believe it started in 2019, when Matt from Matt’s Plumbing reached out to our school board officials,” said Jake Jouppi, vice-principal at Lively District Secondary School.

“He had a number of turkeys that he would like to get out to families so that more families could enjoy a Holiday meal.”

This year, Matt’s Plumbing donated 300 frozen turkeys to students across the city.

“It just makes my heart absolutely full, and I know it does with all the guys that work for us,” said Matt Stillwaugh, owner of Matt’s Plumbing.

“And it’s just the right thing to do.”

The Holiday tradition has grown significantly over the years.

Started with 50 turkeys

“We were getting towards Christmas, and I thought it’d be nice to try and do something for our community,” said Stillwaugh.

“We started with 50 that year, and then every year after we did 300, and I think last year we did 400.”

Jouppi explained the process of the turkey distribution.

“We reach out to administrators from a variety of schools and then they give us a number that they think they might need,” he said.

“This year it worked out really well that we perfectly had 300 turkeys and everyone’s getting what they wanted.”

The school board said they do this because it’s the season of giving. “It’s a matter of getting families together and trying to make sure that everyone has the means to make that happen.”

Stillwaugh said he is grateful to the Tarini Brothers’ Meat Market, which helped in sourcing the 300 birds at a discounted price.

Allowing him to pick up the Ontario local birds and hand them off to the school board, knowing 300 families are getting a traditional Holiday meal this year.