Happy Thanksgiving!

The holidays are truly special at St. John’s. Anyone who has been a part of the community can attest to that. We are always floored by the enthusiasm amongst our volunteers to give back to those less fortunate than themselves. Our donors and volunteers come from all backgrounds. From small individual donors, school food drives and corporate initiatives we couldn’t do it without the support of our community. Fr. Bismarck recently reflected on this and referred to the community coming together as our “St. John’s Family.” The number of people who take it upon themselves to make a difference always astounds all of us at St. John’s, our donors and volunteers exhibit a hunger to give back. These people really do go above and beyond to help. Thanksgiving is the time of year to reflect upon what we are grateful for and St. John’s is indebted to the individuals and groups who make up the St. John’s family. We are grateful for the continued support of St. John’s during and after the holiday season. Thanks everyone! We truly cannot say that enough!

The Essex County Sheriff’s department once again continued their Thanksgiving tradition and made a huge donation of turkeys. Having turkey on Thanksgiving is a major part of the holiday for many people, and for some it just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without turkey. Thanks to their hard work, for many families in Newark, Thanksgiving is once again possible.

We also would like to thank all the volunteers that come everyday and offer so much of their time to give back in anyway they can. Likewise, those who cannot contribute their time, but help us in other ways, we are so grateful for your support. Nothing in the soup kitchen gets done without our enthusiastic volunteers and donors. There are so many people who we owe thanks to, and you have our whole-hearted gratitude for coming together and supporting our shared mission. Together, St. John’s is a family that can make a difference and we are thankful on this Thanksgiving day to have so many people who see the value in what St. John’s does everyday. Thank you everyone, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We are thrilled to say that our Thanksgiving celebration went over smoothly. All the cooking was made possible by all the people who took the time to prepare the meal. It’s a lot of work to prepare a 300 Thanksgiving style meals! Cranberry sauce, green beans, stuffing, mashed potatoes and of course turkey. The trays were heavy, and you had to be careful with them or they’d crack! That’s always a good thing though and having a heavy plate on a Thanksgiving is the way it’s supposed to be. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!