With the 8th Annual Kent Turkey Challenge coming to a close, it marks a cumulative total of more than $150,000 and 50,000 pounds of food raised over the past eight years.
To help feed families during Thanksgiving, Torklift Central and the participating businesses for the Turkey Challenge helped the Kent Food Bank during the holiday season. The eight-year totals include $158,398 and 55,566 pounds of food.
“We are grateful to facilitate the Kent Turkey Challenge and see the outpouring of their generous donations,” said Torklift Central owner Jack Kay in a press release. “We are incredibly humbled by the amount of donations we’ve helped collect over the past eight years.”
One hundred percent of the donations go to the Food Bank. For every $10 donation, the Food Bank reports it can feed a family of four for four days. This year, the Food Bank reported they were able to feed more than 600 families and 1,700 people, and give them full Thanksgiving meals.
The top five local monetary donors were Eberle Vivian with $4,000, Pegasus Northwest Inc., with $2,000, Kent United Methodist Church with $2,000, Shannon and Associates with $2,000 and Chateau at Valley Center, residents and employees with $1,000.
The top five winners of food donations were Plemmons Industries with 5,236 items, Sunrise Elementary School with 4,313 items, Seattle/Tacoma KOA with 1,259 items, Grass Lake Elementary School with 1,119 items and Seattle Mabuhay Lions Club with 992 items.
“The annual Kent Turkey Challenge is a wonderful drive bringing together our community to provide holiday food for hundreds of families each year. Because of the drive and its success, the Kent Food Bank has been able to eliminate our pre-registration and can sign families up during the food distribution days,” said Jeniece Choate, executive director of the Kent Food Bank. “Before the drive began eight years ago, the food bank distributed mostly canned food items and very few turkeys. Now we have fresh produce, butter, milk, eggs and turkeys for everyone.”
To see the complete list of business donations for the 8th Annual Kent Turkey Challenge, visit https://torkliftcentral.com/turkey.
Celebrating 42 years in business, the Kay family opened Torklift as a one-bay shop in Kent in 1976. Today Torklift has more than 3,000 dealers worldwide. With a manufacturing facility housing more than 130 employees in Sumner, Torklift produces aftermarket and factory parts for the RV and automotive industries.
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