Thanks to Cornell students, faculty, staff, alumni and administrators, more than 200 families in Groton, Dryden and other parts of Tompkins County will enjoy a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving.

While working with the Cornell Public Service Center (PSC) earlier this month, students from Cornell Hunger Relief, a program of the PSC that works to raise awareness of local hunger, learned that a food pantry about 15 miles from Cornell in Groton, N.Y., was running dangerously low on food resources.

The students visited the Groton Food Providers and discovered that the number of households the pantry helps increased by 18.5 percent from August to September. They also discovered that the pantry had the opportunity to purchase turkeys at a discount if they ordered before Oct. 26, but lacked the funds to purchase enough turkeys to go around.

The student program, led by Stephanie Lee '14, coordinated a drive for donations, Oct. 17-26, in the Public Service Center. Members and departments of the Cornell community, including Vice President for Student and Academic Services Susan Murphy, but most notably the PSC, contributed to the drive by donating and helping to spread the word.

The drive raised a total of $3,224, equal to 215 turkeys, fulfilling Groton Food Providers' need, and also providing turkey funds for the Dryden Kitchen Cupboard and for the Tompkins County Chapter of the American Red Cross. Now the Red Cross can afford turkeys for its annual Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 15.

"Cornell Hunger Relief saw a pressing need in our community and was committed to addressing that need," said Lee. "As Cornell students, we believe it is our responsibility to work to support the community we live in. We are grateful for the generous efforts by the Cornell community for the project's great success. Due to this success, we were also able to support two additional local organizations that were in need of assistance."