Let’s be clear, hundreds of organizations around the state are offering free turkeys to ensure everyone can enjoy Thanksgiving. There’s no way to note them all, but we’ll highlight a few below.
And if you want to personally help, there are plenty of organizations eager for donations – now and throughout the holiday season (and beyond). Here’s a link to the donation page for the Community Foodbank of New Jersey.
A list of just some of the organizations that are stepping up.
The RWJBarnabas Health Turkey Giveaway: The Nov. 23 event was among several held by the system ahead of Thanksgiving, providing a combined nearly 3,000 turkeys, 200 chickens, 300 fresh produce boxes and 120 pies to local communities. RWJBarnabas Health employees also volunteered to serve meals, distribute toys, and provide health screenings and nutritional information to individuals and families in need.
Activities took place across the RWJBarnabas Health system in Newark, New Brunswick, Jersey City, Plainfield and West Orange in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.
Inserra Supermarkets: The group teamed up with the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office for a Thanksgiving Turkey Drive to benefit 2,000 families in need. In addition to supporting the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, Inserra Supermarkets donated more than 4,000 turkeys, 2,000 pies and side dishes to local charitable organizations.
Rider University: The school donated 128 Thanksgiving meals to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen on Nov. 21. Each year, Rider holds a Thanksgiving basket drive to support local families in need and celebrates as a university community with a campus-wide Thanksgiving luncheon. Ticket proceeds and donations for the luncheon benefitted Rider’s on-campus pantry, which provides food, personal care items and school supplies for students in need.
Hudson Regional Hospital: Its Operation Give Thanks Thanksgiving turkey dinner giveaway on Nov. 24 distributed 200 pre-selected Secaucus residents – as well as providing 200 free turkeys to staff members. HRH, which has been hosting Operation Give Thanks with Secaucus every year since taking over the facility in 2018, also offered free health screenings.
Camden Mayor Vic Carstarphen’s 2024 Annual Turkey Giveaway: More than 900 turkeys were donated by Camden-based companies (EMR, NFI, The Michaels Organization, and the Philadelphia 76ers) as a part of a free community event on Nov. 23. In addition, Jack Jordan Inc. & Arab-American Community Church, CAMcare, and Wellpoint provided 20,000 pounds of fresh produce, canned goods, non-perishables, among other food items. Local non-profit organization, One Camden, will also provide donated coats, hats and gloves.
Stew Leonard’s: Paramus police and firefighters helped hand out hundreds of Thanksgiving turkeys to local residents in need, representatives of local food pantries, homeless shelters and charities. Thousands of turkeys will be given away by Stew Leonard’s across the tri-state area to help combat food insecurity.
