The Essex County Sheriff’s Office is hosting a Thanksgiving turkey giveaway

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ – Essex County’s longest-serving sheriff and its new sheriff-elect have joined forces with their local law enforcement counterparts to keep a long-standing holiday tradition alive for 2024: the Sheriff’s Office Turkey Raffle.

The annual Thanksgiving food drive was attended by Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura, who is retiring after decades of service. This year’s campaign also received a boost from Amir Jones, who will replace Fontoura.

During the trip, department officers loaded vehicles and delivered hundreds of turkeys and holiday meals with all the trimmings to local churches, food pantries, schools, women’s shelters and homeless shelters throughout the county.

Officials also restocked pantry shelves at St. John’s Soup Kitchen, Sisters of Charity, New Hope Baptist Church and Paradise Baptist Church, among others.

Fontoura — who has led the annual event for decades — called it a “labor of love.”

“I couldn’t be more proud of what our department was able to accomplish with this food drive as we continue to help many families and soup kitchens in our community,” he said.

Send local news tips and correction requests to [email protected]. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Learn how to post announcements or events to your local patch site.