Belmont Hill’s longstanding tradition of community support continued this November as the School completed its annual Turkey Drive, distributing 543 complete meal kits to food pantries, churches, shelters, schools, and community health centers across Greater Boston. The effort, which began at Belmont Hill in 2010, has grown from its early years of assembling just 50 meals to one of the school’s largest community service initiatives—this year overseen once again by Mr. George, who has led the project for many years.
The drive has for years concentrated on Thanksgiving meal staples, but 2025 marked a turning point when the contents of each box changed. Mr. George spoke with the partner organizations and learned that many families supported by the sites “aren’t traditional Thanksgiving people” and would be more inclined to use the week’s worth of high-utility foods rather than just one meal. “We discovered that rice and beans would last much longer,” he said. With the recommendations of a member of the Belmont Hill Board who looked into local food needs, the committee exchanged cranberry sauce and gravy—“the least nutritional,” as Mr. George termed it—for bagged rice and canned or dried beans while still including gift cards for families who wanted the more traditional items.
There was more to this project than just giving away food; it involved massive coordination of efforts by students, professors, and the maintenance crew behind the scenes. Mr. George pointed out how people like Mrs. Gallinaro, a school nurse, were crucial in making everything work out smoothly. He remembered one particular incident that reflected the character of the drive: at the beginning of the week, when almost one thousand pounds of potatoes had to be turned over and moved, a group of Form III students, along with several teachers, came and spent more than an hour and a half sorting and transporting the food.
Reaching 543 boxes, however, did not come without challenges. “The response is always slower than we’d like,” Mr. George admitted. Initial advisory collections yielded only about 130 of the planned 500 boxes, and increased demand this year made the stakes higher. Cuts to SNAP benefits during the recent government shutdown left many partner organizations with fewer resources and more families to serve. “The need has grown,” he said plainly. Yet, as often happens, the school rallied late: gift card donations surged, and Form III students helped finish gathering and sorting boxes across campus.
Looking ahead, the Turkey Drive team will continue refining the process, including the possibility of standardizing gift cards to a single grocery chain. But for now, Belmont Hill celebrates another year of generosity—one that not only met urgent community needs but strengthened the school’s sense of shared purpose.
