While Thanksgiving Eve is a day made famous by last-minute cooking, spending time with friends and family and packed bar nights, members of the Kearny community set out to make sure everyone could have a dose of Thanksgiving holiday cheer.
Coordinated by Lyla DeCastro, Kearny Mayor Carol Jean Doyle’s right-hand woman and Nelly Albizu, in the Kearny Health Department, Meals on Wheels delivered Thanksgiving-style senior citizens who may not be able to prepare Thanksgiving meals themselves.
Said Kearny Councilwoman and volunteer for Meals on Wheels, Marytrine DeCastro: “Wednesday night was for the senior meals on wheels delivery, which is for our seniors that are homebound. We gave out over a hundred meals; 102 meals were given out, actually. And that was generously donated by (state) Sen. (Angela) McKnight,” DeCastro said.
McKnight, who serves District 31 as a New Jersey State Senator, which includes Kearny, has assisted in Thanksgiving food donations in the community for over a decade.
“We live in a very strong community where when there’s need, we have great partnerships, our businesses, our local leaders, our nonprofit organizations, coming together and being there for one another. So we keep doing it” DeCastro said.
Other volunteers who took the time to hand out meals to the seniors included the aforementioned Doyle, Police Chief Scott Macfie, Councilman Fred Esteves, Councilman Jose Rodrigues and other figures in the local community.
Doyle, DeCastro says, deserves a lot of credit for her commitment to taking care of the Kearny community.
“She’s very much hands-on with the needs of the community and kind of just volunteering and being the one to step up and just making sure our families are taken care of and get what they, food and nourishment that they need,” DeCastro said.
The best part of the whole day, though, for DeCastro was getting to see up close the happiness the food deliveries bring to the senior community.
“They were just so happy for somebody to go and to just see a smile at the door and kind of just be that hello and give the warm meal. They were very appreciative. I heard great feedback,” DeCastro said.
DeCastro also also wanted it to be known to Kearny residents — the next Kearny Food Distribution day is Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 314 Belgrove Drive at 1 p.m. and it occurs every Tuesday.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.