What started as the donation of “a few” turkeys has blossomed into a local holiday tradition nearly 10 years in the making.
The annual Corey Mace Turkey Drive is once again in full force in Airdrie, as part of the former Calgary Stampeder’s ambition to spread some holiday cheer to thousands of families in the form of a donated turkey for Christmas dinner.
For the ninth year, Mace is partnering with the Airdrie Food Bank to facilitate his yearly turkey drive, which sees the thousands of dollars in donations raised to purchase poultry for families in need over Christmas.
Christine Taylor, the events, marketing, and communications manager for the Airdrie Food Bank, said the initiative’s visibility has increased throughout the last nine years to the point where most people in Airdrie are aware of Mace’s annual turkey drive.
“It's become a big thing and he has a lot of supporters within his sporting community with the Stamps, and also through the Flames foundation,” she said. “It's a pretty cool community and they all pull together.”
Mace is a former defensive tackle for the Calgary Stampeders, lining up for the CFL team from 2010 to 2015. After retiring from professional football in 2016, Mace stayed involved with the Stampeders in a coaching capacity, and is currently the team’s defensive line coach.
His annual turkey drive in Airdrie emerged in 2013 and has only grown since then. Last year saw a record-breaking total of nearly $33,000 raised, according to Taylor. Despite the economic hardships many people faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mace’s turkey drive in 2020 smashed the previous year’s total, when $12,000 was raised and 1,000 birds were gathered.
The increase in 2020 can in part be attributed to the introduction of an auction component. According to Taylor, the auction was introduced last year to limit person-to-person interaction but encourage people to stay engaged with the initiative.
This year, Taylor said the auction is back, and will be underway from Dec. 6 to 12. An earlier auction was held from Dec. 1 to 4, which saw two tickets for the 2021 Grey Cup on Dec. 12 and a WestJet travel voucher as the available items.
Some of the items up for auction this week include a Calgary Flames suite package worth $9,000 that includes 20 tickets for the team’s New Year’s Eve game against the Winnipeg Jets, and a signed jersey from Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom.
According to Taylor, another highly sought-after auction item will include a night out on the town with Mace in Airdrie, including a group reservation at Rival Axe Throwing and dinner at Main Street Barbecue.
“There's also another package for a night out in Calgary with Corey, a guest, and yourself and a guest,” she said.
Other items up for grabs include a $500 Sobeys gift card, a beer fridge, a helmet signed by members of the Stampeders, a Stampeders jersey signed by quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, and two tickets to the Labour Day Classic football game between the Stampeders and the Edmonton Elks.
To bid on any of the items, visit 32auctions.com/coreymaceturkeydrive2021
Despite the allure of the auction items, Taylor said the point of Mace’s turkey drive remains the same as in years past – to make sure families can tuck into a holiday turkey dinner.
“It's always going to be [about the turkeys],” she said. “The whole purpose for Corey was making sure people had a turkey or ham on their table on Christmas day. We still continue to do that – with the money, we purchase turkeys.
“The focus is and always will be the turkeys, but this was a good way to shift it, to still have the Corey Mace Turkey Drive. Obviously with COVID, we had to change things up a bit.”
To learn more about the Corey Mace Turkey Drive, visit airdriefoodbank.com/corey-mace-turkey-drive
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
