DeKalb area charitable events Let’s Talk Turkey, Freezin’ for Food find new home

DeKALB – Two annual charitable staples that help DeKalb County area families during the holiday season have found a new home.

Let’s Talk Turkey and Freezin’ for Food, both formerly hosted by WLBK 98.9 FM/AM 1360 radio, moving forward will be hosted by Kishwaukee-DeKalb Kiwanis, a group member said.

Local radio personality TD Ryan, who’s championed the events since their inception, is no longer employed by the radio station. But the seasonal giving collections will continue, said Bill Finucane, a former DeKalb city alderman and Kiwanis member.

Finucane announced the changes during an episode of Ryan’s new podcast “TD Ryan Unleashed” that recently aired.

“We didn’t want to get TD out of freezing in December,” Finucane said in jest.

Let’s Talk Turkey is a food collection drive hosted around Thanksgiving annually. Donations often include frozen turkeys from the DeKalb Fire Department, all the fixings and other items which go directly to The Salvation Army in DeKalb. The donations are distributed to area families to help provide a holiday meal.

Freezin’ For Food, also a collection drive, has historically taken place in December yearly at Hy-Vee in Sycamore. Ryan, who’s hosted the event for 24 years, brings awareness by camping out in the grocery parking lot for the duration of the dayslong collection, encouraging donations and interviewing supporters.

“We just couldn’t see that falling by the wayside,” Finucane said of the food drives. “We talked about it for about six weeks...and the club voted to go ahead and back that up.”