City of Wilmington and New Castle County Partner With NOR Enterprises on the 35th Annual Turkey Drive
Mayor Mike Purzycki and City Council President Hanifa Shabazz today announced they have joined with New Castle County Executive Matthew Meyer and the New Castle County Council to support NOR Enterprises 35th Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Give Away Program.
For more than three decades, Norman Oliver’s NOR Enterprises has fed thousands of Delaware families and seniors during the Thanksgiving holiday. The event, in conjunction with Our Youth Inc., relies on hundreds of volunteers to deliver more than 3,000 turkeys each year to families in need.
Mayor Purzycki and Council President Shabazz are encouraging City employees and citizens who visit City government offices to help provide the “fixin’s” – that is, donating non-perishable can and boxed food items to either the Louis L. Redding City County Building at 800 North French Street or the Turner Building at 500 Wilmington Avenue. Collection boxes are located in the lobby of the government buildings. The collection drive will continue through Monday, November 20. The fixin’s and the turkeys will be combined and given to families throughout Delaware on Tuesday, November 21.
“Hunger remains a persistent and growing problem in Delaware, and that includes parts of Wilmington where families and seniors struggle daily to put food on the table,” said Mayor Purzycki. “We’re fortunate to have people like Norman Oliver, whose boundless generosity has helped so many people enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday each year. Wilmington is grateful for the way he and his team of volunteers have brought people together to address a continuing community need.”
“It’s important to come together as a community and give back to those less fortunate,” said Council President Shabazz. “Norman Oliver has helped us to do that in this City for so many years. We need that community spirit to shine now more than ever.”
Norman “Stormin” Oliver is a Wilmington native who grew up in the Southbridge neighborhood with four brothers and four sisters. He was a Wilmington City Councilman for the 4th District from 1992 to 2004 and also served as Chairman of the Wilmington Democratic Party. Oliver began providing Thanksgiving dinners to the hungry when he was a freshman at Delaware State University, dropping off meals to the homeless living under bridges in Wilmington. Over the years the Turkey Drive expanded beyond Southbridge and even the City of Wilmington itself to reach communities throughout Delaware. With more than a dozen community partners, friends, family and high school volunteers, Oliver is able to assist seniors and families in Newark, Seaford, Georgetown, Milford, Dover, and Smyrna through the Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware.
For more information about this year’s Turkey Drive Give Away and how you can help, visit: http://www.ouryouthinc.org/
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