Two days before Thanksgiving, several hundred Hoboken residents lined up in front of The Church of God of Prophecy on Jackson Street to receive one of more than 340 turkeys that were donated for the annual holiday.
Tuesday’s turkey giveaway was the culmination of a cooperative effort between local churches, businesses and government officials. While it was not officially sponsored by the city, 4th Ward Councilman Christopher Campos, Council President Ruben Ramos Jr. and the city’s director of human services, Carmelo Garcia, organized the event. The turkeys were given mostly to residents of the Hoboken Housing Authority (HHA) but were made available to any Hoboken family in need. The HHA oversees the city’s approximately 1,300 federally subsidized units of low-income housing, primarily located in the southwest part of the city.
Some of the churches that donated turkeys were Sts. Peter and Paul Church and St. Francis Church. The Church of God of Prophecy donated the space to store and pass out the frozen turkeys.
Some of the businesses that donated were Hoboken Brownstone Company, Lisa and Associates, Martini Blue, and PNC Bank. Jersey City Councilman E. Junior Maldonado also got into the act and donated 10 turkeys.
Campos said that last year, at the last moment, he was able to get 15 turkeys donated to the Boys and Girls Club. This year he said that was his goal to do something on a much larger scale.
“We really wanted to do something special,” he said Tuesday night. “This was a grass roots effort that would not have been successful without the compassion many people, churches and local businesses. No one should go hungry on Thanksgiving.”
He added that many people view Hoboken as a town full of high rents, but it should not be forgotten that there are still many in the community that need some assistance. “It’s true that Hoboken does have many resources, but still has many real needs,” he said. “But we are lucky, because we have the opportunity to pool these resources and work in a corporative way to help those that are less fortunate.”
Ruben Ramos, who grew up in a Housing Authority building and whose father works for the Housing Authority, said that he is happy that he is able to give something back. “I’m just glad that we were able to do this,” said Ramos. “We were able to tap many different groups in the city for the benefit of the community.”
Virgil Nieves, the public relations spokesman for the Church of God of Prophecy, said that the small church across the street from the Housing Authority is always open to those who need help. “We hope that we can open our doors and be here for the community,” he said.
Campos said that he hope he and those involved are starting a new Hoboken tradition. “This is really just the beginning,” he said. “Next year is going to be bigger and better; we want to be able to give out full dinner with all of the trimmings.”