Swirnow's 7th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner Giveaway!

A Thanksgiving meal giveaway led by a Baltimore-based father and son team has fed more than 80,000 city residents in the last six years. On Saturday, November 22, 2003, they hope to reach thousands more.

The "Our Family to Your Family" Program," launched in 1997 by Richard A. Swirnow, Developer of the Inner Harbor properties called HarborView and son David E. Swirnow, President of Swirnow Building Systems, distributes these "Adopt-a-Turkey" gifts to more than 40 non-profit organizations in a corporate-community effort to provide food relief to those in need. Thanks to Swirnow company employees and more than three dozen non-profit groups and public agencies, 65,000 pounds of turkey dinners in 2,000 meal baskets will reach needy families this year.

South Baltimore Emergency Relief, Inc. is one of the participants in the program. "Over the past few years, Adopt-A-Turkey has provided a much needed service to our clients," says Elizabeth A. Baer, SBER's Executive Director. "We are grateful for all they do to help make Thanksgiving a day of not only giving thanks, but providing those less fortunate with a delicious dinner."

Melody Cole of the Highland Assembly of God Church was particularly pleased by the program's generosity towards the people of inner city Baltimore. "In these hard-hit economic times," she says, "it helps to keep hopes and dreams alive."

Other recipients of these baskets include disabled, unemployed, and elderly residents, as well as lower-income families with young children. Cherry Hill 2000, for example, was able to help families that are working poor and didn't qualify for any other type of assistance last year. Says Executive Director Cathy Brown, "We appreciate the opportunity to help them again this year."

For the first three years, the financial needs of "Our Family to Your Family Adopt a Turkey Program" were handled by the Swirnows. Their customers, vendors and friends found it a terrific opportunity to give back to their communities and quickly joined the cause.

Food distributions will take place at the Swirnow Building System warehouse, 2801 Sisson Street, and the HarborView warehouse, at 801 Key Highway on Saturday, November 22. That morning, 2,000 volunteers will gather in McLean, Virginia to help Tom Wertz of Merrill Lynch, founder of the Adopt-a-Turkey Program, make Thanksgiving dreams come true for the Maryland, Washington, and Virginia area. Brody Trucking of Baltimore and the Salvation Army will provide the trucks, and the Swirnow Company employees who volunteer their time will haul the packages to Baltimore for distribution.

"Our Baltimore program amounts to about ten percent of the three-state program," says Richard Swinow. "It's a huge undertaking. In the morning, at the grounds of the McLean Bible School, hundreds of volunteers form many assembly lines, unloading and repacking 32-35-pound boxes of whole turkeys, potatoes, vegetables, pumpkin pies, and fresh-baked rolls from the Safeway Bakery and onto lines of trucks waiting to move the packages throughout the three-state area."

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