• by Teresa Buyikian , Yesterday

Wild Turkey has returned with its annual Thanksgiving “give back” campaign, this year benefiting a nonprofit that helps food banks across the country.

The Farmlink Project identifies surplus produce at risk of going to waste and works to move it into communities facing food insecurity. Wild Turkey will donate $101,000 to the nonprofit this year.

The whisky has also teamed up with cook, author and YouTuber Andrew Rea, aka Babish, in order to raise awareness of, and drive actions toward, combating food waste, "turning traditional ‘Friendsgiving’ get-togethers into an opportunity to toast to an important cause.” The “Binging with Babish" host will assist in building awareness for The Farmlink Project.

"At Wild Turkey, we believe in shared moments and giving back," says Allison Varone, head of marketing at Campari America. "This Friendsgiving, we're proud to partner with The Farmlink Project and Babish to create a campaign that goes beyond the table, inviting people to savor bold flavors while making a real, immediate impact in their communities."

Farmlink focuses its efforts in October and November on the season's overabundance of apples. So Wild Turkey and Babish have created an apple-focused cocktail, the Wild Apple  Pie, which contains Wild Turkey 101, dehydrated apple syrup and aromatic bitters. The cocktail, and other apple-focused drinks, are promoted online.

Consumers 21 and over can also enter a Friendsgiving contest, promoted here, that will award four groups of friends a private Friendsgiving dinner in New York City hosted by Babish.

Wild Turkey is promoting the partnerships and contest via its social media platforms @WildTurkey.

While fitting for Thanksgiving, Wild Turkey actually got its name in 1940 when distillery executive Thomas McCarthey took some warehouse samples with a  group of friends on a “wild turkey” hunting trip. The friends later asked him for “some of that ‘Wild Turkey’ whiskey," thus leading to the brand name.