In the remotest parts of Alaska, you don't have to rely on DoorDash to deliver your Thanksgiving dinner or any other dinner. But thanks to the Alaska Turkey Bomb, some residents who live far enough off the grid are raising turkeys this holiday.
For the third year in a row, a resident named Esther Keim has been flying a small plane low over rural south-central Alaska, delivering frozen turkeys to people who can't go to the grocery store.
Alaska is largely wild, and only about 20% of it is accessible by road. In winter, many people living in remote areas rely on small planes and snowmobiles to travel distances, and frozen rivers can sometimes act as makeshift roads.
When Keim was growing up on a farm in Alaska, family friends would fly turkeys to her family and neighbors for the holidays. Pilots also sometimes delivered newspapers, sometimes with gum inside.
Her family moved to urban Alaska about 25 years ago and still owns the mansion. A few years ago, Keim and his father started a turkey delivery mission in a modified small plane after learning that families living nearby had little food for Thanksgiving dinner.
“They said there wasn't much disagreement between the three of us about the dinner squirrels,” Keim recalled. “At that moment, I thought… 'Let's fly them a turkey.'”
She decided not to stop there. Her efforts spread through word of mouth and social media posts. This year, she is delivering 32 frozen turkeys to people who live year-round in roadless mountain cabins.
All but two of the birds had been delivered by Tuesday, with plans to deliver the remaining two birds thwarted by Alaska's unpredictable weather.
Alaska Gear Company / Facebook
Among the beneficiaries are Dave and Christina Ruth, who live along the Yentna River about 45 miles northwest of Anchorage. There are stunning mountain views in all directions, including North America's highest mountain, Denali, just to the north. But in the winter, it's a 90-minute snowmobile ride to the nearest town, which runs about once a month.
“I'm 80 years old now, so I travel less and less,” Dave Ruth said. “Looks like the adventure is over.”
They have known Keim since childhood. The 12-pound turkey she delivered will provide enough for them and several neighbors.
“It's going to be a great Thanksgiving,” Dave Ruth said. “She was a real sweetheart and a really good friend as well.”
Keim makes 30 to 40 turkey deliveries a year, flying 100 miles from his base north of Anchorage to the base of Denali.
Sometimes she enlists the help of a “turkey dropper” who rides along and dumps the bird. Sometimes she drops turkeys while her friend Heidi Hastings flies her plane.
Keim buys about 20 turkeys at a time, usually with the help of donations from people who contact her through Facebook. She wraps them in plastic trash bags and leaves them in the back of her pickup until she can arrange a flight.
“Luckily, it's cold in Alaska, so I don't have to worry about the freezer,” she said.
She contacts the family on social media to let them know the delivery is on the way, then buzzes around the house for the homeowner to come outside.
“I don't drop it until I see the turkey coming out of the house or the coop, because I don't know where to look until I see the turkey fall,” she says.
Finding turkeys can be especially difficult when the snow is deep. Keim said the turkey was sometimes missing for five days before being found, but so far the only casualty was a missing ham.
If possible, Keim prefers to drop the turkey on a frozen lake so it's easier to find.
“I'm definitely not the best target in terms of accuracy and hitting targets,” she joked. “It's gotten better, but I haven't hit any houses, buildings, people or dogs.”
Her reward has been a great response from her family, some of whom record her dropping the turkey and send videos and messages of thanks.
“They just think it's so great that we're throwing these things out of planes,” Keim said.
Eventually, she hopes to start a nonprofit organization to raise more donations and reach a broader population in the state. You don't have to stay turkey.
“There are a lot of children in the village,” she said. “It would be nice to add a stuffed animal or something you can hold.”
