FAIRBANKS — Thanksgiving may have been two months ago, but there’s plenty of turkey in Fairbanks.

The Fairbanks Community Food Bank received a surprising donation of 1,089 surplus frozen turkeys — more than 12 tons of the savory bird — from Walmart late last week, and it’s going a long way to helping feed families in need.

“I’ve never seen this many turkeys in January before,” said food bank Executive Director Samantha Kirstein, who said the post-holiday months usually are pretty slow for donations.

The slow month paired with one of the coldest Januarys in recent memory makes the timing of the donation even more important for the food bank, Kirstein said. With temperatures sitting far below zero, the need this month put the food bank at its limit.

“January is always a high month,” she said. “People have to pay more to heat their homes and have less money to spend everywhere else.

“We’re maxing out every single day,” she said. “It is hard to meet all of the need all of the time.”

Kirstein said the birds, at an average of about 18 pounds apiece, will be added to food boxes for large families and used for Meals on Wheels deliveries for months to come. The stores of turkey are expected to keep people fed until early April, she said.

Walmart manager Tim Ericson said the donation came out of an overstock in the store’s warehouse. He said they had the option of shipping them back, but said it just made sense to donate them.

“I’m not exactly sure how it all happened, but we happened to have them,” he said. “We had the opportunity to send them back, but we wanted to benefit the community. The need has just been crazy.”

Walmart donates food to the food bank three times a week, as do other grocery stores in the area, Ericson said.

“It doesn’t take very long until you realize, ‘Wow, there are really people in need,’” he said. “It was just a huge win and I’m just thrilled to do it.”

Contact staff writer Matt Buxton at 459-7544.