Beginning on Sunday, students will prepare meals for Azalea Terrace, N.C. Faith Health, Latino Community Services and Aster Park, non-profit University distribution partners who serve low-income residents and will determine who gets the meals. Students will deliver the meals to the organizations Nov. 17-20.
“These four organizations are identifying people within their reach that have a need for a Thanksgiving meal,” Shugoll said.
Mareesa Ahmad (’21)
Mareesa Ahmad, a senior communication major at Wake Forest, has volunteered with Campus Kitchen since her freshman year. She enjoys Turkeypalooza because she said it’s a great way to spend time with friends, meet new people and give back to the Winston-Salem community.
“Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday,” Ahmad said. “When I heard freshman year that Campus Kitchen prepares Thanksgiving meals for the community, I was all in. The atmosphere during Turkeypalooza week is just incredible. We’ve got music playing and the kitchen smells amazing.”
This year, Ahmad’s primary role is developing the recipes and making sure the required ingredients are on hand for each cooking shift. Different cooking stations will be set up for the different food items to be prepared.
Volunteering for Turkeypalooza seemed a natural fit for Ahmad because of what she and her family do back home in Harlan, Kentucky.
“We volunteer at the soup kitchen, washing the dirty dishes that come in,” she said. “We visit the nursing home quite often, playing games with the residents, hanging out with them and just hearing about their life stories. “My parents instilled in me at a young age that it’s really important to help those who are less fortunate, and I’m glad to attend a University that believes in that as well and affords me the opportunity to do so.”
