In the spirit of Thanksgiving, two different organizations spent the day giving back to their communities.
The City of Glastonbury was home to a turkey drive, and, in the Town of Wallingford, hundreds came out to a turkey trot.
Two different holiday traditions in two different places, but both had the same mission: to give back.
"A turkey drive is a great way to do that," said Meryl Rees, of Glastonbury. "We've had a great turn out from the community. A lot of people driving by."
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Rees is a member of First Church in Glastonbury.
She and a team of volunteers hosted a turkey drive Sunday morning from 8 a.m.to 2 p.m. with a goal of collecting 200 turkeys and $8,000 for Connecticut Foodshare so that families in need have a meal to look forward to on Thanksgiving.
"It's something that I feel strongly about, and something I want to support," said Jonathan Brown of Glastonbury.
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Brown stopped by with a turkey one hand and a $40 donation in the other. According to Connecticut Foodshare, $40 equals out to 80 meals.
In Wallingford, about 250 runners came out to the annual Kiwanis Turkey Trot Road Race.
The Kiwanis Club of Wallingford, a non-profit community service organization of more than 70 years, has been hosting this event for quite some time.
"We've been doing this over 25 years," said race director Semrau.
Race director and longtime club member Cindy Semrau says this race is their largest fundraiser, which benefits students and families in town and beyond.
"People come to us and say we need this, we need that. It goes right back into the community," said Semrau.
Organizers also raffled off 12 turkeys, and a few lucky runners went home with something tasty to eat in a few days.
"Running today just was like 'wow, I'm really proud of where I'm from, and I'm really proud of the people I get to do this with, and I really proud of just this community. I'm really grateful to be from here," said Christina Casper, of Wallingford.
