Hundreds of Thanksgiving turkeys to be handed out for free in Toronto

A major real estate developer plans to give back to Toronto this weekend by handing out 300 Thanksgiving turkey dinners.

Now in its seventh consecutive year, Northcrest Developments' annual Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway returns to Downsview Park this Sunday, giving families across the city the chance to celebrate the fall tradition with all the makings for a poultry feast, offering hampers complete with a full turkey, potatoes and cranberry sauce.

The giveaway was first held in 2020 and has provided nearly 2,000 complete Thanksgiving dinners to local families in the years since it launched.

Northcrest is the developer behind the long-term redevelopment of the former Downsview Airport lands. The company's "YZD" redevelopment project is still a few years down the road, but the developer has already taken an active role in helping to animate the disused airport site in the interim.

The developer's giveaway comes amid record-highs in food insecurity. Northcrest cites 4.1 million local food bank visits last year — a shocking 340 per cent increase over 2019 — as a key reason why this giveaway is so necessary for many families struggling to put meals on the table.

Northcrest's turkey giveaway may only be seven years old, but the tradition of providing Thanksgiving dinners to Toronto families in need stretches back decades. Honest Ed's founder Ed Mirvish famously hosted an annual turkey giveaway from the late 1980s until the store's ultimate demise in 2015.

This year's giveaway will be held on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 12 p.m. within the Downsview Park Merchants Market at 40 Carl Hall Rd.