Saint Louis University’s Campus Kitchen cooked up a feast for local low-income families this year for its sixth annual TurkeyPalooza.

172 Campus Kitchen volunteers assembled 876 Thanksgiving dinners between Nov. 18 and 20, and delivered the meals from Nov. 19 to 22. The dinners included turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and pie, among other treats.

Volunteers assembled the meals from donated provisions. Campus Kitchen received 71 turkeys, 20 hams and several hundred pounds of foodstuffs from Trader Joe’s, Chartwell’s, Whole Foods Market, Isle of Capri Casino and other donors. It also accepted $750 from SLU faculty members and $985 from community benefactors.

“This was tremendous. It’s more than we’ve ever done before,” said Campus Kitchen Program Director Jenna Grime.

Grime noted that a former Nordstrom’s chef and the head of Whole Foods Market led cooking shifts during TurkeyPalooza. They were accompanied by two women who lived in the transitional housing of the YMCA on SLU’s campus.

“These women worked alongside the chefs and were able to help cook the meals they receive,” said Grime.

Sophomore Katie Madges, a Campus Kitchen volunteer, helped prepare Thanksgiving meals last week. “I started doing the cooking here, but then I volunteered for a delivery shift and met the people who got the meals,” Madges said. “Now when I go to cook, I can picture people receiving the food. It means so much more.”

Campus Kitchen, which began at SLU in 2001, is a program that provides nourishing meals and culinary education for the financially disadvantaged. Since 2001, Campus Kitchens have opened in ten schools, including Northwestern University, Marquette University, Wake Forest University and Washington University in St. Louis.

Nationwide, 5,000 Campus Kitchen volunteers have contributed 70,000 hours to recycle 450,000 lbs. of food into more than 425,000 meals.