Dragons Deliver: Drexel’s Annual Holiday Drives Support Military and Local Families

Drexel University closes out each year with traditions that support those who need it most during the holiday season, and 2025 continued this heartfelt tradition.

Starting in November and ending in early December, the annual drive to create care packages for those serving in the military (or the families of those active-duty members) continued through the partnership between the Department of Public Safety and the Center for Military and Veteran Services. This year, items were compiled and given to a local military base in New Jersey.

And during the first weeks of December, the Alumni Turkey Project from Drexel Alumni packaged and distributed turkeys and sides to create holiday meals for local families.

With Dragons coming together for both annual initiatives, the Drexel blue and gold helped to make things shine a little brighter this season.

Military Family Care Package Drive

The Department of Public Safety and the Center for Military and Veteran Services partnered again this year, all in the name of collecting items in support of families of active-duty military personnel. This marks the 17^th year of this tradition of sending care packages to those serving and/or their families and loved ones.

With the help of University partners, colleagues and friends, numerous bags and boxes of non-perishable foods and personal hygiene products were gathered during November and December. Dragons dropped off items at several boxes located across the University City Campus, and those items were collected and packaged during a Dec. 3 event. Participants could also write cards to include with the donated goods.

The bags and boxes were delivered to the "Warrior Food Pantry," which serves military members and their families at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. Angela Montgomery, assistant vice president of graduate admissions at Drexel, who participates in the base's Honorary Commander program, made the connection for the University.

The 52^nd Alumni Turkey Project

The Alumni Turkey Project is the University's longest-standing alumni charitable tradition and has distributed more than 28,000 meals, complete with turkeys and sides, since 1973.

This year, more than 2,000 bags filled with non-perishable holiday sides were distributed with more than 2,000 frozen turkeys to more than 50 community organizations. The project raised $76,236 thanks to the support of the Drexel community.

"This cherished alumni tradition exemplifies the very best of the Drexel spirit - collaboration, civic engagement and commitment to creating meaningful impact," said Chair of the Drexel Alumni Board of Governors Bernard F. Greene III '99 '14. "By serving more than 50 community partners during an especially challenging year for food insecurity, we are reminded of the transformative power of unity and the remarkable legacy we continue to build."

Both the packing day on Dec. 6 and the distribution day on Dec. 13 were completely full, thanks to more than 100 volunteers who dedicated their time and effort to making sure the meals were ready to be shared. Ultimately, the meals were provided to communities through partner organizations like the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services.

As in recent years, the packing day was held at Sharing Excess, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit founded at Drexel by Evan Ehlers '19. The turkeys and sides were distributed outside the Daskalakis Athletic Center (DAC) on the University City Campus.

Photos taken at the Sharing Excess packing day event and the turkey distribution day event can be found on Drexel Alumni's Flickr account.