Downtown Peekskill's Turkey Trot returns on Saturday, November 21, and it still runs on the same unusual arithmetic: nobody pays to enter, and everybody brings a bird. Check-in opens at 8 a.m. on North Division Street and the trot steps off at 9 a.m., with participants running or walking through the center of downtown.

The event is run by Caring for the Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill, known locally as CHHOP, the nonprofit at 200 North Water Street that operates Fred's Pantry and provides housing and support services to veterans, survivors of domestic violence, and chronically homeless men and women in northern Westchester County.

The entry fee

The entry fee is a frozen turkey, chicken or ham. Each donated turkey goes to Fred's Pantry, where it is paired with a grocery bag of holiday staples and handed to a household that needs a Thanksgiving dinner. Registration, and donations for anyone who wants to give without running, are online through the organization's Givebutter page, where the event is listed under the line Run. Give. Feed Your Neighbors.

The other half: 450 bags

The trot has a companion drive this year called Pack a Bag, and it is the part a family can do from the kitchen table. CHHOP's goal is more than 450 complete bags of holiday staples, each one to be matched with a donated turkey.

The rules are strict on one point: only complete bags with every listed item are accepted, so a half-filled bag is not a help. Households and groups pledge a number of bags by emailing kdidona@liftingupwestchester.org, then drop them at the Peekskill Firehouse, 1137 Main Street, on Thursday, November 19, or Friday, November 20, between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Who is behind it

CHHOP has run the trot every November as a food drive on foot. Beyond Fred's Pantry, the organization provides temporary and long-term housing, advocacy, and clinical and support services to veterans, survivors of domestic violence, and chronically homeless men and women, and it operates Jan Peek House, which it describes as Northern Westchester County's only homeless shelter. Its offices are at 200 North Water Street, near the river.

Also in downtown Peekskill before the trot

The week before has its own calendar a few blocks from the start line. At the Paramount Hudson Valley, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band plays Friday, November 13, at 8 p.m., Floydian Trip performs its Pink Floyd show Saturday, November 14, at 8 p.m., and comedian Anthony Rodia has two dates, Friday, November 20, and Saturday, November 21, both at 7 p.m. The city's Sunday flea market runs November 15 and November 22. Tickets for the Paramount are at its events page or 914-739-0039.

Getting there

North Division Street is in the middle of Peekskill's downtown, uphill from the Peekskill station on the Hudson Line. Check-in opens at 8 a.m.; bring the frozen turkey with you, since it goes straight to the pantry's collection.

Questions go to CHHOP at 914-736-2636. Registration is at givebutter.com/turkeytrot2026.

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