Torino Social Club Donates 50 Turkeys to Coventry Food Bank

Once again this year, the Coventry Community Food Bank received a generous donation to help dozens of local families enjoy a complete Thanksgiving meal.

Richard Moschetti, a Coventry resident and member of the Torino Social Club, for the second year in a row, gathered the Club's membership together in order to purchase and deliver 50 frozen turkeys to Food Bank Coordinator Stefani Dugas on Tuesday morning. Volunteers arranged the birds in baskets along with vegetables, dessert and "all the fixin's" needed for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, which were then donated to local families in need through the Food Bank's assistance program.

Last November, Moschetti and the Torino Club organized their donation after learning that the Central Coventry Fire District receivership proceedings would not allow CCFD firefighters to make their annual donation of 70 Thanksgiving turkeys to the Food Bank. And this year, the Club decided to repeat the holiday act of kindness.

According to Dugas, if turkeys were not donated, the Food Bank was going to buy $10 Walmart gift certificates for each family to be put towards their turkey purchase, but depending on the family size, that may not have covered the entire cost. The Food Bank provides Thanksgiving baskets for more than 100 Coventry families each year who would likely not be able to enjoy the traditional meal otherwise. 

The Torino Club, having been chartered in 1916, is one of the oldest Italian clubs in Rhode Island, currently consisting of about two dozen members, mostly from Coventry and West Greenwich. Its membership regularly arranges fundraisers and charitable donations for local residents and organizations. 

"We try to do what we can," said Moschetti. "Our organization is glad to once again help out our local community."