Hillsborough Thanksgiving Project a Success with Youth Volunteers

Thanksgiving, for most, is an exciting time of celebration with family and reflection on the things we are most grateful for. For some in our community, Thanksgiving can be a time of anxiety and stress wondering how to provide even the basics of a celebratory meal for their families. In one Hillsborough community - Thanksgiving is a time where neighbors come together in the annual Hillsborough Chase Thanksgiving Project (HCTP) to provide all of the supplies and groceries for these Thanksgiving meals for their neighbors in need.

The 3rd Annual HCTP, in coordination with The Food Bank Network of Somerset County, relies on the Hillsborough Chase community of Hillsborough, NJ, to donate complete holiday meals including turkeys, desserts, thanksgiving sides and other groceries for four families in the surrounding Somerset County area. Receiving families anonymously provide a "wish list" so that all meals are customized to the families wants and needs. This year nearly 50 bags of food, groceries and ShopRite gift cards were collected and donated exceeding the families expectations. "The families were so grateful," says The Food Bank Network Bound Brook Pantry Volunteer Coordinator, LuAnn Fuschino, "there were tears of happiness all over the place!"

For this year's HCTP - nearly half of the volunteers were younger than 17. "The enthusiasm to participate this year by our community's youth was overwhelming," says HCTP Founder, Andrea Fein. According to Fein, three of the four groups were lead or co-lead by youth volunteers - double the previous year's participation. This year's youth leaders include: Miraj Vakil (second year as a team leader), Tejas Patel, Dean Milano, and Rahul Chauhan. More than a dozen other children from the Hillsborough Chase community helped with gathering donated item from nearly 30 donors, labeling and packaging the items for delivery and coordinating food drop off at the collection site. "The neighborhood's youth of all ages really wanted to be a big part of the project this year," reflects Fein, "I really could not have done it without them! I will certainly be thankful this Thanksgiving for all of the kind people in my community who supported this project again and made it such a success."

To learn more about starting your own community project or how to become a recipient, please contact The Food Bank Network of Somerset County or call (732) 560-1813.