CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Salvation Army in Clearwater is preparing to give out 13,000 turkeys on Monday in what organizers say has been a year jam packed with requests.

Major Ted Morris with the Salvation Army said the massive distribution event is split into two parts: families receiving individual pickups, and community organizations that pickup in bulk and then distribute the turkeys to families in the surrounding area.

They plan on giving 3,150 turkeys to individual families and 9,850 to community organizations to hit that total of 13,000 turkeys.

What You Need To Know

Salvation Army to give out 13,000 turkeys Monday

3,150 turkeys are to individual families and 9,850 to community organizations to distribute 

150 volunteers are helping during 10-hour distribution event 

You must have a pre-registration ticket to attend pickup event 

“We’ve had more requests this year than we’ve had in the past,” Morris said. “So we’ve had to limit the number we’ve had to give out with all of the requests that have come in.”

The event is in its 30th year and sponsored by an anonymous donor.

Roughly 150 volunteers are staffing Monday’s massive turkey distribution event and split into three shifts. Volunteer coordinator Irene Frye said the demand for food assistance really started to pick in up July. It grew even more when the government shutdown hit.

It’s a big day at the ⁦Salvation Army⁩ in Clearwater 🦃

3,150 families are signed up to get a full turkey dinner with ⁦@Publix⁩ turkeys. An additional nearly 10K families are getting turkeys from this event through partner organizations. It runs until 7 ⁦@BN9⁩ pic.twitter.com/Mx3JEEicld

— Angie Angers (@angie_angers) November 24, 2025

Frye said she’s just thankful to be here helping others.

“It’s just serving others. Helping people help people. Being there for one another… being there for our neighbor and just helping out especially in this time of need,” she said.

As of Monday morning, all turkeys have been accounted for. You must have a slip as proof of pre-registration to pick up a Thanksgiving meal.

The distribution event runs through 7 p.m.