Thanksgiving Drive a Large Feast, Despite Sandy

As the borough continues to recover from Sandy, the Hopatcong community once again pulled together to help each other out at a time it is needed most.

This year's Thanksgiving Food Drive at the high school received double the amount of food normally collected, after losing several weeks from Hurricane Sandy.

National Honor Society adviser Lisa Kenny organized the drive, and said every year the school has about three weeks to collect food. However, Kenny said the group was at a disadvantage this year because they only had three days once the school reopened last Wednesday.

She said despite the loss of days, students were able to collect 85 turkeys, 52 baskets, and 14 boxes full of Thanksgiving food items to help out borough families in need. 

Kenny said in recent years, the school has received about 26 baskets.

"I was aghast by the whole thing because these people were hit pretty hard not having power for the long period of time and yet, they were so generous," Kenny said. "It was amazing."

Kenny said that  who traveled from South Jersey on Monday to bring the turkeys to the high school.

The drive, run by the National Honor Society club, was made possible by the 16 NHS members, 23 staff members, and a number of students in the school who donated.

"I'm in awe of the fact that at a really difficult time in these peoples' lives they were able to pull it together and help people that they view as less fortunate," Kenny said.

Kenny said the leftovers from the shelter were also donated to the drive. The extra turkeys that are left over from this drive will be frozen and distributed to families for Christmas.

"I think the community is just a very, very giving, kind community," Kenny said. "They always pull together for each other."