The Rotary Club of Great Neck's Annual Thanksgiving Basket Drive reached new heights this year with the distribution of 1200 boxes of food --- each one big enough to easily feed a family of six.

From this year's co-chair of the event, Rotarian Jeff Jardine: "The Rotary Club of Great Neck started this about 25 years ago in the driveway of member Milt Tamarin. At that time, each club member made a donation, and there was just enough money to assemble five baskets. Nowadays, funds are raised throughout the community and from corporate sponsors too, and we've increased the number of boxes almost every year. We thought we did great last year with 1100, but the community came forth with sufficient money to increase the count to 1200. Each box contains a 12-pound turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, soup, gravy, assorted vegetables, and a pie for dessert. In prior years the club would deliver the boxes, but that has proven to be unwieldy. Today, each institution on the list sends a vehicle to pick up their own boxes."

Months of preparation and planning are required. Arrangements are made well in advance with the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy for space to gather the items and assemble the boxes. Items, like canned goods, arrive about ten days prior to distribution, but the magic happens just days before the holiday.

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Rotarians with children and grandchildren, plus friends from the neighborhood, gather at the Academy to assemble what has come to be called "the goody bag." With it, in assembly line fashion, volunteers walk around the room, stopping at each station to pick up an item for the bag. This is where the cranberry sauce, the vegetables, the stuffing, etc. get packed, and when the bag is full, it is stacked in a corner waiting for the next day when it will be put in a box with a turkey.

On Monday, at about 5:30 a.m., a truck arrives with very deeply frozen turkeys. With no place to store them, the club orders them that way and by the time it comes to cook them, they are thawed and ready. It is on Monday that the club counts on the volunteers who have assisted us over the years; members of the local fire departments and the South High football team. Because of the weight of the turkeys and the goody bag, older, stronger helpers are required. By 10, the recipient vehicles start to show up, and then our volunteers load them. The kids are wonderful, and they make what would otherwise be an arduous task, into a fun game of "Who can load more, faster?"

The Rotary Club of Great Neck meets over breakfast , 8 to 9 a.m. on Wednesday mornings at the Inn at Great Neck, for camaraderie, interesting programs, and an opportunity to provide "Service Above Self," the motto of Rotary. Questions about Rotary or the Thanksgiving Basket Drive should be directed to club President Bernard Sandler at 773-4000, ext. 211.