JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One by one, turkeys were loaded into cars Saturday morning as Jacksonville families took home the key piece to their Thanksgiving meal.
“It’s absolutely exciting. I love turkey,” said Joshua Banks.
Brenda said she is grateful.
“Some of us, we can’t provide for ourselves,” she said.
People also received canned goods. Councilman Reggie Gaffney, who organized the event, said people started lining up before sunrise.
“The first car said, ‘Councilman Gaffney, I got here at 3 o’clock because I wanted to make sure my family got blessed,’” said Gaffney.
Unfortunately, some cars had to be turned away.
“The sheriff’s department told me they actually had to turn about roughly 800 cars away. This shows the city of Jacksonville, there are so many people that are hurting,” said Gaffney.
Roughly 700 cars received turkeys to take home to their families, according to Gaffney.
“We have had 700 cars we’ve had the privilege of praying with,” said Doug McCary with SWAT Bible Studies.
“It’s a blessing that these people come out and they do what they do and they feed the community,” said Brenda.
The turkey drive had more than 100 volunteers with several sponsors, including Publix and Farmshare, Winn Dixie, SWAT Bible Studies and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Other organizations like ReWork were also there.
Gaffney said they hope to have another turkey giveaway around Christmas.