WILLMAR, MINN. — Jennie-O Turkey Store, a subsidiary of Hormel Foods Corp., announced in November that it broke the Guinness World Record for the largest donation of turkeys in 24 hours after it donated 15,000 whole birds.

The company plans to donate an additional 5,000 turkeys to other charities in the United States, bringing its total to 20,000 donated turkeys during Thanksgiving.

Jennie-O collaborated with NBC’s ‘Today Show’ weather and feature anchor Al Roker to set the record as it donated 15,000 turkeys to local partners of Feeding America. 

According to the company, 7,500 turkeys were provided to the New York area through their partners, Food Bank for New York City and City Harvest. The other 7,500 turkeys were donated to one of Feeding America’s Chicago partners, the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

“Thanksgiving is an especially important time for the Jennie-O brand,” said Steve Venenga, assistant vice president of retail marketing – value-added meats for Hormel. “We are honored to collaborate with Today and Feeding America to provide 15,000 whole turkeys to those in need in New York and Chicago. 

“We also have a long-standing tradition of working with organizations around the US to donate turkeys — and this year, we’re donating more than 5,000 to local organizations. This special holiday is about giving thanks and sharing a meal with those you love. With these donations, we hope to make this Thanksgiving particularly memorable for thousands of families.”

In order to hand deliver each turkey to Feeding America locations, eight Jennie-O semi-trucks were deployed from Minnesota to New York and Chicago. 

Cooking tips, recipes and information about the 1-800-TURKEYS hotline were made available with each bird.

The previous Guinness World Records title holder for the “Most Turkeys Donated in 24 Hours” was 7,620 turkeys, weighing 142,117.54 lbs in 2022. This year, Jennie-O’s donation weighed more than 320,450 lbs.