‘Miracle on the Hudson’ survivor raising money to deliver Thanksgiving turkeys to local families

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Casey Jones is helping to get a turkey on hundreds of local family’s tables this Thanksgiving.

Jones was on US Airways Flight 1549, which crash-landed on the Hudson River Jan. 15, 2009.

For the past twelve years, Jones has made it his personal mission to hold a turkey drive for The Salvation Army and assist in providing Thanksgiving turkeys to families in need.

“My ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ plane crash left me with a compassion for the homeless that I never would have had without going through the experience of seeing myself in the mirror dressed entirely in clothes given to me by others,” said Jones.

It was 10 years ago this month when Jones said he heard on the radio that Salvation Army had not received nearly enough Thanksgiving turkeys for families in need.

“I knew I had to do something about it. So I sent an email to five people and in 24 hours, we raised enough money to buy 140 turkeys. The following year I sent an email to 10 people and in 24 hours, we raised enough money to buy 160 turkeys. The next year the email went to 15 people and received some media coverage. When the donations were tallied, we had enough to donate 244 turkeys.”

In 2020, Jones says they were able to donate 852 turkeys. Since the beginning of the program, nearly 5,000 turkeys have been given to families in need.

This year, Jones is hosting a GoFundMe campaign for donations. To donate click HERE.

The turkeys will be given away to families who applied for assistance.

Preparing for a holiday season of giving with the Salvation Army

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