The three grade-school girls wrestled with bags holding 12-pound turkeys and protruding aluminium roasting pans, their adult-sized Salvation Army volunteer shirts hanging halfway to their knees.

Francesca Collett, 9, her sister Julianna, 10, and friend Samantha Centola, 8, spent Saturday morning dragging the bags across the floor of the Salvation Army South End Corps Community Center lobby, handing them to older volunteers and to the local residents who came for the goods: a turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, carrots, onions, potatoes, and a pumpkin pie — enough to feed a family of five, with leftovers.