Photo by Chris Sykes Goldie Burbage, center, and Capt. Scott See of the Salvation Army, center left, stand with volunteers and East Orange Fire Department FMBA Local 23 President Garrett Winn, center rear, on Sunday, Nov. 20,at the Salvation Army pre-Thanksgiving Community Dinner. The firefighters cooked all the turkeys that were served at the event. The need for food donations is now greater than ever for the East Orange Salvation Army.
Goldie Burbage, center, and Capt. Scott See of the Salvation Army, center left, stand with volunteers and East Orange Fire Department FMBA Local 23 President Garrett Winn, center rear, on Sunday, Nov. 20,at the Salvation Army pre-Thanksgiving Community Dinner. The firefighters cooked all the turkeys that were served at the event. The need for food donations is now greater than ever for the East Orange Salvation Army.
EAST ORANGE, NJ — Although Thanksgiving has passed, the East Orange Salvation Army is still in need of food donations.
“We are one month away from our largest distribution of the year and our pantry is empty,” said Salvation Army Corps Officer Capt. Scott See on Monday, Nov. 21, the day after his agency teamed up with the East Orange Fire Department and other volunteers from the city for the annual pre-Thanksgiving Dinner at the department’s Main Street headquarters. “We need your help to fill it. (We are) in need of canned goods and other nonperishable items, to help feed a family for a Christmas dinner. Items can be dropped off at the Salvation Army, 430 Main Street, East Orange, or call 973-672-0262.”
See said the Salvation Army’s Christmas Assistance is the “biggest distribution that we do during the calendar year.” But that annual charitable effort is in danger of not occurring this year.
“We usually give a turkey and all the trimmings to each family who’s applied,” See said Sunday, Nov. 20. “We need help this Christmas and we provide toys. However, we are currently out of all our food donations. We have never been this sparse before. We are completely out of food. So any contacts or people that want to donate food to us, we would be definitely grateful for that.”
See said the deadline to make a food donation to the East Orange Salvation Army branch is Wednesday, Dec. 14, as that would give the agency enough time to sort through the offerings and prepare them for holiday distribution. The branch is located at 430 Main St. and donations can be made between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Not having enough food to give away around the holidays is out of the ordinary, See said; however, this year’s shortage is due to scheduling and logistical difficulties in obtaining supplies from the NJ FoodBank, due to necessary training that has not yet taken place at the branch.
According to Julienne Cherry, of the the NJ FoodBank, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, “Each person needs to attend the training, so that you know the guidelines for shopping. It is our goal to get food to whoever needs it. We would never deny food to anyone or any agency that needs it. In order for anybody to order food, they need to go through the proper training.”
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