NEWARK, NJ — With a caravan of fully loaded pickup trucks, vans and SUVs, Sheriff Armando Fontoura and officers from his department launched the first phase of the 31st annual Essex County Sheriff’s Thanksgiving Food Drive for the needy and homeless from Veterans Courthouse in Newark on Nov. 19.
The sheriff’s food drive will provide hundreds of meal baskets with turkeys and all the trimmings to low-income families for a holiday feast. Other stops along the way include social service agencies, religious institutions, civic centers and schools throughout Essex County.
“We are proud to note that our Thanksgiving food drive specializes in the needs of our homeless population,” Fontoura said. “Not only do we provide food kitchens and pantries with Thanksgiving Day meals we also provide thousands of pounds of bulk foodstuffs to stock their shelves for the coming winter months.”
According to Fontoura, the food drive is especially important this year as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, affecting families in a multitude of ways.
“A lot of families lost loved ones,” Fontoura said. “Others lost jobs, businesses and benefits. New Jersey and Essex County were among the first to be hit by this scourge and we’ve still got a long way to go before we are fully recovered. Our food drive, coupled with our annual holiday toy drive, in some small way will help our neighbors.”
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