Turkeys are College Gift to Food Pantry

Celebrating the annual Bronze Turkey football game, the presidents of Knox and Monmouth Colleges donated a total of 84 frozen turkeys and other food items to food pantries in their communities.

Knox College President Teresa Amott and Monmouth College President Mauri Ditzler made the deliveries on Friday, November 18, to the Fish Food Pantry in Galesburg and the Jamieson Community Center in Monmouth.

Each president agreed to donate 42 frozen turkeys -- equal to half of the 83 total points scored by both teams in the game, this year won by Monmouth 56-27.

Presidents of the two colleges have been making annual Thanksgiving donations to local food pantries since 2001. Knox and Monmouth have played football since 1888, making the Bronze Turkey game one of the oldest rivalries in college football. A bronze statue of a turkey, awarded to the winner, was created in 1928. The one-foot-high replica of a Thanksgiving turkey recalls the early years of the rivalry when the game was occasionally played on Thanksgiving Day.

The Fish Food Pantry distributes approximately 16,000 free meals annually, with between 1,000 and 1,200 distributed during the month of November, according to Fish executive director Lynne Devlin.

Photos: Left, Knox College President Teresa Amott and Monmouth College President Mauri Ditzler push a cart filled with frozen turkeys in the parking lot of Fish Food Pantry in Galesburg; above right, the college presidents in the freezer storage area at the Fish Food Pantry.