San Francisco man holds turkey drive to help food bank, community organizations who serve those in need

The positivity in the St. Emydius Church parking lot in San Francisco was contagious on a soggy Saturday morning.
That was all thanks to Pierre Smut, the San Francisco resident who started an annual turkey drive back in 2012.
“Over the last four years, we’ve collected over 5,000 turkeys,” he said. “People are hungry in this city. Everywhere, they’re hungry. But I wanted to concentrate on the community where we are at. That’s important to me.”
The turkeys and other food collected go to the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and then out to community organizations.
“It could be Project Open Hand, it could be St. Anthony’s Foundation, it could be GLIDE, it could be any organization that cooks food for the people who need it the most,” he said.
Aside from providing a helping hand, he wants to give others the chance to give too. Joshua Phillips says he’s grateful to be able to help those who are less fortunate.
“It makes me feel like I can give them something to be thankful for,” he said.
The SF-Marin Food Bank reports an estimated 1-in-5 people are experiencing some degree of food insecurity.
“That means they’re having to make tough choices about paying their rent or buying food. Actually, we’re seeing the need has increased since the pandemic,” said Chris Padula, the Chief Philanthropy and Engagement Officer.
He says whether food, money, or time, it all makes a difference. A single dollar can do a lot more than one may think.
“The great thing right now is we have matches,” he said. “We have many donors who are matching gifts. So, if you give $10, it actually becomes $20, and that becomes 40 meals.”
Back at the turkey drive, Smit revealed he has no plans of calling it quits any time soon.
“I’ve done it for 13 years and I hope to keep going for a long time, yes,” he said. “I started with 440 turkeys at the beginning of the day. We hope to reach 800-900 by the end of the drive today.”
He’s hosting another turkey drive on Dec. 21. It’ll run from 9 a.m. to noon at the St. Emydius Church, located at 350 De Montfort Ave. in San Francisco.