Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Hero Vikings And Community Members Give Out 600 Turkeys To Northside Families...


Contributed Photos

Information and pictures have come my way from Sherman Patterson, a resident of the McKinley Neighborhood and aide to Mayor Rybak, about a massive turkey giveaway at Cub Foods on West Broadway which happened a few days before Thanksgiving.

This event came about mostly through the financial resources of EJ and Erin Henderson, who are players for the Minnesota Vikings. According to Patterson--who is sometimes called "Uncle Sherm" by those who know and love him--the food giveaway happened like this...
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EJ and Erin have quietly supported our youth on the North side and throughout the city. Last year I ask them to donate 300 turkeys to families at Cub, and EJ said "let's do it" without asking questions. EJ and Erin are classy, low-key guys who are involved with the North Minneapolis community.

I gave EJ a call a few weeks ago and ask him to do the turkey give away again and that we would need to bump it up to 500 families because of these trying times, and again he said "no problem." The great thing about it is that we gave out 600 turkeys.

You can see from the pictures that we had a great turnout. EJ was so touched that he told the crowd that next year he's going to double the turkeys that will be donated to needy families in the community.
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According to Patterson, there was an effort to identify the families most in need through the work of churches and organizations, to assure--how shall I put it?--optimum turkey distribution. Next year, because more turkeys are expected to be distributed, more organizations are expected to be involved with this identification of families in need.

In addition to the Hendersons and Sherman Patterson, City Council Member Don Samuels rolled up his sleeves and assisted with the distribution.

1 comment:

MeganG. said...

Uncle Sherm really is a real American Hero. He's a Vet. Check out his sharp photo in uniform that this blog posted from PEACE Ball.