Local Social Club to Donate 70 Turkeys to Coventry Food Bank

When Richard Moschetti recently read about the plight of Central Coventry firefighters and how they would be unable to make their annual donation of 70 Thanksgiving turkeys to the Coventry Food Bank this year, he knew how to help. 

Moschetti is a Coventry resident and a member of the Torino Social Club, one of the oldest Italian clubs in Rhode Island, having been chartered in 1916. The club currently consists of about 25 members, mostly from Coventry and West Greenwich, who regularly arrange fundraisers and charitable donations for local residents and organizations. This holiday season, the Torino Club will be donating the 70 turkeys to the food bank to benefit Coventry families in need.

"I saw the Patch article and figured that we could help the community this way," he said. "My neighbor Lisa (Tomasso) put me in contact with the food bank, then we put it to a vote at the Club and decided to jump on board."

Moschetti explained that he is currently in the process of securing the turkeys from local retailers. Once this is done, the Torino Club will rent a truck, load the turkeys and deliver them to the food bank on Monday morning.

Coventry Food Bank Coordinator Stefani Dugas, who accepted the donation offer on Wednesday, is grateful to the members of the club for their generosity. 

"We're very excited here at the food bank. It definitely made my day yesterday," she said. 

Dugas explained that if the turkeys were not donated, the food bank was going to buy $10 Walmart gift certificates for each family to be put towards the turkey purchase, but depending on the family size, that may not have covered the entire cost.

"This donation is huge," she continued. "Now the families won't have to make that extra trip to the store. They will get their turkey and their basket of vegetables and fixings that we provide, and can jump right into the holiday!"

"We try to do what we can," said Moschetti. "It's tough for everyone right now, including the firefighters who normally do this, so we decided to help out this way."