Wichita school district collects turkeys for United Methodist Open Door

Wichita public school students and employees collected more food than last year as part of its annual turkey drive for United Methodist Open Door, district officials said Monday.

The district collected 3,678 turkeys – 150 more than last year. Schools and employees also collected nearly 23,500 side items – the largest number collected in the 10 years the district has participated in the drive – and more than $11,800 in monetary donations.

“Our students did an unbelievable job,” superintendent John Allison told Wichita school board members Monday.

He thanked the Wal-Mart store on West Kellogg, which partnered with local high schools to allow students to purchase turkeys at a lower cost. Cargill provided a refrigerated truck to store the frozen turkeys during the drive.

“We anticipated our number of turkeys would be down this year” because of increased food costs, Allison said. “So it was just a fantastic day.”

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Wichita school district collects turkeys for United Methodist Open Door."