Organizers of Talking Over Turkey are celebrating another successful year "paying it forward" in Leamington over the weekend.
The Diab family delivered a humble 50-turkeys to families in need three years ago. That number grew exponentially to 200 last year and to a whopping 600 with support from the community in 2018.
Eva Ocampo tells CTV Windsor the Diab's and more than 45 volunteers are doing a great thing for families on a tight budget this holiday season.
"I'm Grateful for the people that help others in need," says the single mother of three boys. "It's a great cause and I just want to say Merry Christmas and thank you to all the generous people and all the supporters."
Hundreds turn out for the third annual ‘Talking over Turkey’ event in Leamington. The Diab family along with 45 volunteers are giving away 600 turkeys and all the fixings to residents in need. @CTVWindsor pic.twitter.com/D6nR1R1iIG
— Alana Hadadean (@AHadadeanCTV) December 15, 2018
Mike Diab says the event he founded with his wife Deanna and his two children has taken on a life of its own.
"A genuine pay it forward that my wife and I really benefited from years ago. We're just paying it back and when I started looking around and asking questions, there were a lot of other people that wanted to pay it back also," he says. "The pay it forward is done on mega-scale, it's really an event by the Essex County community."
Only 25 volunteers were expected, but Diab says more than 45 showed up to help out Saturday morning.
Diab says all 600 turkey-boxes were handed out in less than two hours.
— with files from CTV Windsor's Alana Hadadean.