2019 Turkey Drive Challenge begins

For the past nine years, GrassROOTS has been providing necessary resources for families in need. This year, GrassROOTS will host #GiveThanks Turkey Giveaway events in Newark, New Jersey and Atlanta, Georgia.

Our New Jersey giving will go to residents of Newark. This includes students at Central High School and residents of Georgia King Village (GKV) in the West Ward of Newark.  GKV is a housing development in Newark, and home to a significant number of single, black mothers and their children. Almost 30 percent of Newark’s residents live below the US poverty threshold and 1 in 5 residents of Essex County are food insecure. In previous years we have partnered with the City of Newark and the Believe in Newark Foundation to expand our giving and provide for 6000 Newark families in need.

Board member Mona Scott-Young will lead the charge to support her second home, the City of Atlanta. She, along with the GCF leadership team and community partner, The Black Rose Foundation will be serving families and elders in need in Southwest Atlanta at the QLS Gardens and Haven. Residents of this community are apart of HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program or Section 8 housing. This area has been challenged by poverty and violence. In the past six months this area has experienced multiple incidents of aggravated assaults, and auto thefts.

Our goal is to provide healthy meals for  families in need. Our celebrity supporters, board members and staff compete head to head to sell as many turkeys as we can. $25 provides a family with a holiday meal, which includes a 20lb turkey and 5lbs of organic fruits and vegetables. Multiply that $25 by any number and multiply the number of families you feed.

It’s that simple!

As we engage in a friendly battle via social media, our turkey tallies will be displayed on the website where we can track progress. Ask your friends, family and social networks to donate. It’s all in fun and as we compete against each other, we are working together to provide healthy meals to as many families as we can. Some of us will lose the challenge, but in the end the community wins!

In addition to turkeys, GrassROOTS provides a catered, seated 4-course dinner to elderly adults of Georgia King Village. Our SuperGirls working as servers and Super Families volunteer to support.

Our celebrity partners, community investors, board members and team members lend their support each year by participating in the Turkey Challenge and raising funds for our community members. The goal is to get as many donations as they can.

Celebrity competitor is: Mona Scott-Young, CEO of Monami Entertainment (#TeamMSY)

**Mona Scott-Young has won each year of this contest.

Board members: Dr. Janice Johnson Dias, President of GrassROOTS Community Foundation (#TeamJanice) and Lisa Maxwell, Vice President of Global Product Marketing, MasterCard (#TeamLisa)

**#TeamLisa beat #TeamJanice in 2018.

For more information on Turkey Drive results and Give Thanks Cocktail Fundraiser, please click here.

Give to your team. The community is the winner.