Having enough food for Newark citizens during the holidays isn’t something to gobble about. The Newark Police Association, along with the Newark Grocery Outlet store, delivered 290 turkeys to the Viola Blythe Center the last week in October. This annual “Turkey Drop” event plays a tremendous role in the lives of Newark citizens, states Debra Rodriguez, Viola Blythe Executive Director. She explains that Viola Blythe Center regularly helps more than 500 families each month with food and clothing, adding that they couldn’t help so many people without the support of the Newark Police Association, schools, businesses, Boy Scouts and individuals who support the Center.
One of the favorite parts of this event is the “infamous Turkey Brigade” that the Police Association forms when transporting the holiday meat from the delivery truck to the freezer at the Viola Blythe Center warehouse. The Center will additionally purchase another 200 chickens so that clients can have a choice between a chicken and a turkey.
According to Rodriguez, October also kicks off Viola Blythe’s Barrel Program, where they place barrels in businesses and schools to collect food and new toys. The Scouts will also have their annual “Scouting for Food” drive on Saturday, Nov. 16 with the collected food given to the Viola Blythe Center for distribution. Every single donation plays an important role in Newark.
Making sure that everyone has enough food during these holidays is important and Viola Blythe thanks the community for all their help to address this critical need.
Viola Blythe Community Service Center; violablythe.org
