Hungry Families In Jersey City Are Getting A Helping Hand From Big Business And The Police
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A popular clothing company and law enforcement in New Jersey are coming together to help hungry families and kids.
Members of the Jersey City Police Department were on food delivery duty Wednesday morning, going door to door and handing out meal kits to locals like Natasha McKnight, who is raising 10 kids, including seven that were adopted.
"People say you do all of them kids, how do you do it? They don't know. I need these kids more than the kids me need me. It keeps me going. I would feed anyone," McKnight told CBS2's Natalie Duddridge.
Feeding that many kids is expensive, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. When schools went virtual it meant the usual breakfast and lunch weren't covered.
"The food shopping is about $1,200 a month," McKnight said.
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To help out families like McKnight's, menswear clothing brand Joseph Abboud, which is owned by WHP Global, committed to giving 10,000 meals, donating one for every order on the store's website.
Then Joseph Abboud teamed up with police, building lasting bonds with kids in the neighborhood.
"We thought that this was an opportunity to change what is typically a negative occasion when police come to your house into a positive," said Jameel Spencer, WHP Global's chief marketing officer.
"It's important that the officers that police the communities they serve know the people in the communities where they're patrolling ... That will continue to help build trust," Jersey City Police Deputy Chief Nicholas Scerbo said.
Inside each box you'll find meats, pastas, vegetables, and even desserts, lasting a family up to four meals.
A dozen boxes were dropped off to one house, alone.
"I have come to see true value of friendship, family, and even strangers," McKnight said.
McKnight said since the pandemic started the whole neighborhood has been checking up on her, and especially her kids.
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