Volunteers and organizers are already preparing for this year’s annual Mary Mulvey Jacobson Families in Need program for the Parkway.

The idea is that for Thanksgiving and Christmas, anyone in need can reach out to the organization and have a turkey dinner delivered to their home for both holidays. The deliveries started with the late Mary Mulvey Jacobson, a local organizer and former director of the Irish Social Club in West Roxbury, and since her passing has been taken up by Jim Hennigan, along with the West Roxbury Business and Professional Association (WRBPA).

The event is pretty simple. The weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas, volunteers gather at Roche Bros. in West Roxbury to deliver turkey dinners to those in need throughout the neighborhoods. Hennigan said they have the process ‘down to a science’ and so it’s pretty efficient, but he added they are always looking for volunteers.

No matter how efficient you get, moving 150-plus turkeys is a big undertaking.

“When I did the count on Friday, I think we’re at 165 deliveries this year,” he said. “Once you start reaching out and finding out, you find people really need help. And it changes every year. One year someone may not need help at all, and another they may have fallen on a hard time. We still see that happening. It’s always an evolving thing.”

Hennigan said families can get deliveries by reaching out, and the District E-5 Office of the Boston Police Department (BPD) and the Parkway YMCA also organizes Families in Need.

Unfortunately, finding families in need is not usually difficult, but Hennigan said volunteers are always welcome to help drive the dinners to where they need to go.

“We can always use volunteers,” he said. “We send people in all directions. Most of the people we deliver to are in West Roxbury and Roslindale, but we do have a few people in Hyde Park, Dedham, and Jamaica Plain that we’ve been giving to for years and we will continue to do that, but this is really a Parkway event, and 85 percent goes to West Roxbury and Roslindale.”

The morning of the deliveries themselves have historically been like a small party. Everyone shows up at Roche on what is usually a cold Tuesday morning – sometimes snowing, sometimes raining – mingle with each other, catch up, exchange jokes and really get into the spirit of the thing.

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“It’s a very uplifting morning every time we do it,” he said. “It’s faces you recognize. It’s the elected officials like Ben Weber, Bill MacGregor, and Mike Rush, and it’s community people too. I’m looking at the list and I’ve got Louis Baiho, Doug McClure, or Steve Morris. So it’s a great mix of people.”

Hennigan said they usually get new people coming to volunteer as well, but they often soon become regulars.

“This weekend a woman who started volunteering last year for the first time got in touch and said she really wanted to do it again this year,” he said. “It’s a great thing, because so many people get excited to do this and it’s all part of the holiday spirit.”

And on the deliveries, Hennigan said the families are always welcoming.

“They’re always grateful, without question, but some people just can’t express enough how much it means to them to get the full turkey, groceries and dessert,” he said. “Some people, you can tell they really need it and the timing is good for them. It’s a great feeling all around. I get calls from volunteers all the time thanking me because it’s honestly just such a good thing.”

If you’re interested in volunteering, reach out to Hennigan at WRBPA2@gmail.com or call Hennigan Insurance at 617-325-1400.