Turkey drive to finish on Nov. 18 at First Presbyterian Church to help the poor of Camden
On Sunday, Nov. 18, from 8:45 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., in the parking lot of First Presbyterian Church, the house of worship’s annual community frozen turkey drive will come to an end. The birds will be gathered up and taken to Your Food Shelf in Camden, where they will be distributed to those in need.
Although the turkey drive was started more than 20 years ago, the Dark family of Haddonfield has been deeply involved with the charitable endeavor for the last 15 years, and expects to be a collecting and driving force this year and beyond.
“It started in 2002 when I got a call from the church, when the person who normally did the collection, who had a truck, found the truck was broken down. We were the only people they could think of who had a truck,” said organizer Margot Dark. “I had no idea what I was getting into. We had a little Ford Ranger, and we collected turkeys, filled up the Ranger and also the back of my minivan.”
Margot’s son Drew, now 22 and a senior at Jefferson University in Philadelphia, seems to enjoy the season and the spirit of giving the most.
“When he was young and we went to bring the turkeys, he was so in awe of what they did. They had bags of stuffing and beans, and everything else they would give to their clients, and he was so impressed. He loves Thanksgiving. He loves turkeys. Every year, he wanted to make sure we collected turkeys for this organization. He gets upset if someone drives by and they don’t have a turkey in their car,” said Margot.
As he grew up, Drew began to take some initiative, not content to ride on the coattails of his parents’ involvement. He would work and save his own money, buying turkeys himself from the supermarket, and Margot would negotiate with a store and try to get a discounted price. One year, Drew managed to purchase 20 turkeys with his hard-earned cash.
Margot expressed gratitude that when her son entered college, he always made an effort to come home and help. A member of Jefferson’s baseball team, he is required to work Eagles home games, but that hasn’t interfered with planning and execution.
“We’ve been lucky. There hasn’t been an Eagles home game on the Sunday before Thanksgiving since before he started college. He’s been available to come home. He’s the one who collects the turkeys, my husband drives the truck, and I do all of the publicity,” she noted.
That doesn’t mean the spirit of giving doesn’t run into a few snags. Dark recalled a time when certain businesses used to provide free turkeys with, for example, a $50 purchase of groceries. She acknowledged that it’s a lot more difficult now to get free turkeys for any reason, let alone for charity, and feels it has had an impact on people and their ability to donate over the years.
Over the last 15 years, Margot — who has kept as accurate a record as possible of donations — estimated the drive has been able to provide more than 1,500 turkeys and more than $5,000 in cash. Residents of the borough are strongly encouraged to do their part, as there have only been a few years where fewer than 100 turkeys were delivered, years Margot said she was “disappointed” in the haul.
According to her records, the single best year for turkey donations was 2011 when more than 150 were collected, while 2009 saw the greatest financial windfall of nearly $800 collected from kind-hearted souls throughout the borough.
For more information on how to contribute, contact Margot Dark at (609) 238–0694. Residents are encouraged to transport their own frozen turkey to the church, located at 20 Kings Highway East, but should enter the lot from the Chestnut Street side.
