As they've done for more than two decades, Bruce and Deborah Sofferman on Wednesday (Nov. 14) donned their Pilgrim costumes and stood outside their Smile Dental Center in Oxford  waving down motorists hoping to collect frozen turkeys for the Spoonor House.

Deborah Sofferman, an interfaith minister, said the couple began collecting turkeys and fixings for Thanksgiving dinners for the needy decades ago and just haven't stopped.

"The first year we did it, we saw how many people we benefited, and we said that we just had to keep doing it ," she said. 

On Wednesday, the Soffermans were joined by John Trovarelli, a case manager at Spooner House who always dresses as a turkey mascot, and their daughter Sophia. 

During the drive, the Sofferman's received a welcomed surprise when Oxford volunteer firefighters pulled into the parking lot in a fire truck loaded with 20 frozen turkeys.

Volunteer firefighter Kyle Leake said firefighters heard about the drive from a firefighter whose wife works at the clinic so they decided to make a donation. 

The Soffermans will be outside again this morning in full Pilgrim custome (Nov. 15) from 7 to 10 a.m. at the R.D. Scinto Corporate Park at One Corporate Drive in Shelton.

Spooner House Executive Director Susan Agamy said the need is great this year for Thanksgiving day turkeys as well as fixings.

You can click here for a list of food drives in the Naugatuck Valley to help the Spooner House.