The Fall River Salvation Army isn't collecting turkeys this year. Here's why.

FALL RIVER — The Fall River Salvation Army’s 2023 holiday food drive is well underway. But it looks different this year: the group is requesting gift cards instead of turkey donations.

“It’s been hard to store them. We don’t have a way to keep 600 turkeys in one place,” said Lorena Castillo from the Fall River Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army’s holiday food drive typically distributes baskets with everything a family would need for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner to hundreds of households. This year, they have 638 families signed up for the Thanksgiving dinner, Castillo said. A similar number will receive food at Christmas.

For years, they’ve passed out turkeys to families in need, along with a basket filled with Thanksgiving staples like canned vegetables, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and gravy, plus other shelf-stable food like pancake mix, cake mix, beans and rice.

But last year, they gave some families gift certificates to local grocery stores in place of the bird. This year, they’re only doing gift cards plus the baskets, no turkeys. They’re seeking $10 gift cards to any area grocery store.

“Because our community is very multicultural and coming from different countries, not everybody cooks a turkey for Thanksgiving and not everybody celebrates thanksgiving the same way we do here,” Castillo said. “Mostly it’s because of the storage.”

The Thanksgiving baskets will be distributed the week of Nov. 13, but people interested in donating can continue to bring food, gift cards and money to the Salvation Army through Dec. 8; excess food and funds from the Thanksgiving drive will go towards the food they distribute around Christmas.

Residents can bring donations to the Fall River Salvation Army’s headquarters, 290 Bedford St., Fall River.

“We just want people to know that we’re doing our best to serve the community, but that we need their help,” Castillo said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Salvation Army collecting Thanksgiving food and money, but no turkeys