Hoboken HOPES Group Donates Turkeys

On Friday morning Hoboken fire fighters David Buoncuore and Andrew Frey rolled about 40 deep frozen turkeys into the Brandt Primary School, ready to be given out to parents and members of the HOPES group.

The turkey drive is an initiative of the Hoboken Fire Department in cooperation with HOPES.

The turkeys were donated by Shoprite, Frey said. The birds—still deep frozen on Friday morning—will be given out to parents in the school district and members of the HOPES organization, which are families 

"It makes a big difference," Ypelaar said. Without these turkeys, she said, "these families would not have a traditional Thanksgiving meal."

HOPES has been organizing the turkey drive for many years now, Ypelaar said, and usually there are no turkeys left over. This year, she said, they also ran a giftcard drive from Shoprite.

Other holiday events that are coming up, Buoncuore said, is a toy drive for children in the hospital.

Frey also thanked the Hoboken Shoprite for making the turkeys available.

"There are some additional people which deserve a lot of credit outside of Yvette and the Hope Program.Larry Inserra, CEO of Inserra supermarkets (shoprite) as well as Maryann Donohue who is the Consumer Affairs Director, she is instrumental in taking Hoboken Fire Department's requests for the turkeys and facilitating the donation," Frey wrote