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This turkey tradition puts food on the table

Chris Dopp gives out turkey dinners each year for free, no questions asked.
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Chris Dopp holds up a Blue Mountain Pottery duck sent to him one year in gratitude for a free turkey dinner at Christmas. The duck sits on Dopp's trophy shelf year-round. Erika Engel/CollingwoodToday

A clay duck painted in the telltale green and black of a Blue Mountain pottery signature item sits on the shelf at Chris Dopp's office next to a hole-in-one trophy. 

The duck was a gift from an elderly woman, sent in gratitude for a turkey dinner she received from Dopp one December. It's one of many expressions of thanks he's received for full tables at Christmas. 

For 18 years, Dopp has been budgeting for Christmas based on how many families fed instead of dollars spent.

Chris Dopp estimates he’s fed more than 30,000 people since he started giving away hams in 2000. A couple years later, he switched to turkeys, and now he gives away 225 to 250 full turkey dinners a year.

“It’s a tradition,” said Dopp of turkey dinner at Christmas.

He started with 25 hams and watched them go within seven minutes of opening his doors. Now there’s a lineup by the time he arrives to give out turkeys a few days before Christmas. He gives meals to young families, seniors, single parents and many in between.

“It’s the working poor, and there’s a lot of them too,” said Dopp.

The tradition Dopp has built now includes a turkey, five-pounds of potatoes, 2 pounds of veggies, 1 dinner rolls, juice, a pie, a hat, and socks. He pays for everything he gives away.

In addition to giving out the dinners at his office on First Street, there is a team of volunteers to deliver turkey dinners to about 100 people who are housebound

“I’ve been hungry before,” said Dopp, referring to a time when he lived in Thailand and was starting a business. “I bailed myself out, but a lot of people won’t and can’t do that. I don’t know how they live with the cost of living here.”

He gives out the food without asking questions, and it's first-come, first-serve.

“Collingwood has been good to me, so it’s my way of giving back to the town and the area,” said Dopp.

Once, when Dopp’s office was on Ste. Marie St., a man came in and received the last turkey Dopp had that year. As the man was leaving, he passed a single mom who had come to get a turkey. When Dopp told her he had none left, the man handed her the turkey he had just picked up.

Others send Dopp letters of thanks telling him he can never know how much the turkey dinner meant to someone.

This year, the turkey dinners will be given out on December 21 beginning at 9 a.m. Those receiving meals will walk through Dopp’s office (The Mortgage Centre) at 192 First Street, picking up items from the various offices. Volunteers work from their stations making sure everyone gets one of everything.

“It’s a well-oiled machine,” said Dopp.

If you are unable to go to Dopp’s office to pick up the food, you can call the office at 705-445-1300 to arrange a delivery. If you know of someone who could use help, you can call to arrange a delivery.


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Erika Engel

About the Author: Erika Engel

Erika regularly covers all things news in Collingwood as a reporter and editor. She has 15 years of experience as a local journalist
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