Dedicated Board members from all three American Red Cross New Jersey Region chapters, along with generous donors and our compassionate Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) volunteers, are making a difference for the military community. Board members collected donations that helped create more than 500 grocery bags filled with the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal – together with a frozen turkey – for service members and their families at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB MDL) and NWS Earle.

“Members with our Chapter Boards take pride in advocating for our mission and enhancing our programs every day, and Operation Turkey is a great example of their commitment to supporting our military members and their families,” said Rosie Taravella, CEO, American Red Cross New Jersey Region.

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At the Red Cross House located on JMBDL, Board members and SAF volunteers spent a day sorting out the donations and then in an assembly line format, filled grocery bags with stuffing mix, gravy packets, potatoes, corn, yams, cranberry, soup, pumpkin, marshmallows, and other items to help prepare a Thanksgiving feast.

Later that week, Board members joined SAF volunteers and service members who volunteered on their day off to distribute frozen turkeys and the grocery bags. American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces and International Services Senior Vice President Koby Langley, Division Director David Collins and his Volunteer Partner Ann Handy joined American Red Cross New Jersey Region leadership to help distribute the Thanksgiving fixings.

“I'm always grateful when I see the end results of our Board members’ hard work and generosity: bags filled with side dish ingredients stacked across our porch stairs, a box truck of frozen turkeys, and Red Cross leadership together with service members lined up to load cars with meals,” said Kim Goetz, executive director, American Red Cross of Central New Jersey. “It's a project that warms our spirit and makes us all proud.”

The American Red Cross provides support to the U.S. military community at every step of their career — from the time a service member takes their oath to navigating life as a veteran and each event in between. You can find support at military hospitals and veterans homes, on installations here in New Jersey and overseas, as well as at each of our chapter offices in the state. Learn more at redcross.org/SAF.