Roosevelt High School's gymnasium turned into a festive assembly line Friday. Students and alumni, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, formed what is affectionally dubbed the "turkey tunnel" to efficiently place hundreds of frozen turkeys into boxes filled with all the fixings for a holiday meal.

The ritual is a time-honored one. This week marked the 52nd year of Operation Holiday Basket, the Minneapolis high school's holiday-season event to gather donations and raise money to provide food for families in need.

The event started back in 1970 when a group of teachers set out to provide meals for about 50 families. Since then, the mission has grown to serve hundreds of families while drumming up school spirit and holiday cheer.

This year, students and alumni packed and delivered 300 boxes of food — each included a turkey as well as carrots, potatoes, dessert and other staples — to neighborhood families, most of whom have students who attend or will attend Roosevelt.

"This has such a long history and it's powerful to be a part of the tradition," said senior Erin Grube.

About 100 students helped pack and deliver the boxes Friday morning. Joining them was Interim Superintendent Rochelle Cox, the high school's teddy bear mascot and more than a dozen alumni. Many of them were from the class of 1968, a group whose members call themselves the ROMEOs, which stands for "Roosevelt Old Men Eating Out Socially," and typically meet up a couple of times a month.

Most of the group's members first met Gary Lewis, who has been instrumental in building and continuing the tradition of Operation Holiday Basket, when they were young men. He's 84 now and has been involved since the beginning.

"Gary was the cornerstone of our lives," said Lee Nelson, a member of the ROMEOs. "He re-energized us to get reconnected with this marvelous tradition."

The ROMEOs raised more than a third of the $15,000 collected this year, which will fund the food needed for next year's baskets. Students and area businesses fundraised and donated the rest.

"This is such a marvelous experience," Nelson said. "I get to meet these amazing students and find out all about the good work happening in our schools. It's a beautiful thing."

Sophomore Rowan Miller signed up to pack the boxes after hearing from a friend about how fun it was last year.

"I didn't want to miss out," Miller said.

For the week leading up to holiday break, Roosevelt students have events and competitions to raise funds and bring in donations for Operation Holiday Basket. Homeroom classes compete to raise the most money, collect canned goods and decorate the doors for the holidays.

"There's a lot of school spirit this week," Miller said. "It's all about community-building."

Christol Schultz, the school's public relations coordinator, helps organize the event. After more than five decades, she said the process of collecting, sorting and distributing the donations is a "well-oiled machine."

The students who return year after year know to wear gloves to keep their hands warm as while they pass along hundreds of frozen birds. They know that the "turkey tunnel" is even more fun if you're singing and dancing to Christmas classics — from "Jingle Bell Rock" to Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" — blaring from the speakers.

And they know their efforts might make someone else's holiday season a little bit brighter.

That's what has kept the tradition alive for more than 50 years, Lewis said.

"I think it says something about the community itself that the kids are so excited about doing this," Lewis said. "I hope that when I'm 100, I can be here, seeing the students giving back."