Washington Township police call for donations to stuff a humvee full of food ahead of Thanksgiving
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) -- Thanksgiving is now only nine days away and many people have already started their grocery shopping. The Washington Township Police Department is working hard to stuff a humvee full of food to help those in need.
Washington Township police just parked its humvee outside the ShopRite on Egg Harbor Road.
The goal is to fill up this truck with canned goods and all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal to make sure families in need have a warm meal this year.
CBS News Philadelphia learned the need in this community has increased over the past few months.
Inside the Washington Township Municipal Building, Drew Jackson is loading a cart full of boxes.
The shelves are quite empty with less than 10 days before Thanksgiving. Some of the latest donations are for Mother's Cupboard, a small food pantry that sits behind the council chambers.
"I was swimming in stuffing for six months, I'm bone dry now," Jackson said. "I'm down to my last 100 cans of tuna fish, I have no jelly on the shelf, I have no peanut butter left on the shelf for what's left on the shelf."
Jackson is the director of the pantry, which has been serving the Washington Township community for two decades.
Mother's Cupboard relies 100% on donations to help feed local families, but Jackson says within the past six months the pantry has seen a significant increase in the number of people needing assistance.
"We were averaging roughly 20-25, we're up to 40 families now a week," Jackson said.
Each family receives two bags of food, roughly $300 in groceries per week. But across the hall from the pantry, even the backup shelves are bare.
That's why Washington Township police are once again putting out the call for donations, hoping to help community members who have fallen on difficult times and provide them with a meal this Thanksgiving.
"Last year we did 30 full meals, a full turkey, stuffing, fruits, vegetables, pies, drinks, and this year we're going to try to reach 50," Chief Patrick Gurcsik said.
The department's humvee will be parked outside the Bottino's ShopRite on Egg Harbor Road until 8 p.m. Tuesday. You can drop off canned goods, a turkey, or money that will be used to buy gift cards.
The donations will also help restock the shelves at Mother's Cupboard.
If you can't make it out on Tuesday, officers will be back out on Thursday at the same time and same place.
