TOMS RIVER – Lots and lots of groceries were bought on the weekend before Thanksgiving but they didn’t all make it home.
If they were purchased at the ShopRite on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River, some of it wound up in a huge Pepsi truck parked outside. It was part of the WJRZ Share The Joy collection of food, toys and supplies for Fulfill, formerly the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean counties, as well as Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Jersey Shore Animal Center.
They set up a portable stage and broadcast from that location for two days. Donations were also taken in Neptune for Fulfill and Holiday Express, and at Brave New World in Toms River.
Jackie Farago, marketing director for WJRZ, said that the last few years have been different for the drive, which has been around for a number of years. There were, of course, the challenges of COVID. People were out of work and donations were needed more than ever. People who usually would give more found it difficult to help out.
During these years, Big Brothers Big Sisters was just accepting gift cards, she said. Now, they are back to accepting toys. This has delighted donors because everyone loves shopping for toys.
Now, the effects of COVID are still lingering a bit and the economy is still troubled. She said she’s hearing people say “I wish I could give more but this is all I can do.”
They received tons of canned food. They also were able to make special call-outs over the air. If something specific was needed, all they had to do was make mention of it between songs and listeners would bring it in.
For example, most people wouldn’t think to bring in baking items or spices, so if they made a request for that, people would add it to their grocery lists, Farago said.
The weekend was filled with stories of special people who made amazing donations. They would get a shout out by the DJ although most of them didn’t give their full name.
One local resident, from Beachwood, has made it an annual mission to collect from her neighbors and brought a U-Haul truck with boxes of donations. Some of them came from organizations, such as the Bayville Elks or Veterans of Foreign Wars. Boy Scout Troop 83 of Bayville’s Scouting for Food on November 12 and 13 was a huge success and their donations were given to this event. Beachwood also has a friendly competition between its four zones – divided based on the day of their garbage pick-up. They competed to see which zone was the most giving.
Some of them came from individual donations, such as a woman who gave $500 last year and came back this year with $1,000. She refused to give her name.
“This is not an ‘I’ endeavor. So many people stood behind me,” she said. Many of them didn’t know Joe D’Ambro, her fiancé who passed away recently, but the donations this year were made in his name. His brother, Phil, was one of several friends and family members who helped empty the U-Haul. The donations were boxed and labeled, and expiration dates were checked.
Joe had been a realtor with Crossroads Realty. Last year, they made a donation of $2,000. This year, it was $6,000.
Next year, all involved said that they hoped the donations would be even more.
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