As the holiday season approaches, supplies at local food pantries become even scarcer than usual as heating bills rise and families struggle to get dinner on the table.
To help local food pantries prepare for the coming winter months, a group of local residents has organized a fundraising food drive dinner at Polish Hall next week.
Stock the Shelves Holiday Food Drive will be held at Polish Hall on Monday, December 7, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., featuring live music, kielbasa sandwiches, hamburgers, hotdogs and a cash bar.
A box truck donated by Riverhead Ford will be parked outside Polish Hall all day Monday, waiting to be filled with donations of non-perishable food items that will be delivered to local pantries.
“Food pantries are strained for resources this time of year,” said Mason Haas, one of the organizers of the event. “We’re hoping the holiday spirit will get people together behind this.”
Tickets will cost $15 each. Attendees are also encouraged to bring along non-perishable food donations to load into the box truck. All proceeds from the event will be used to purchase more food for local pantries.
Haas threw the event together in just a few weeks, inspired by an encounter with a local resident looking for a warm meal.
Two weeks ago, Congressman Lee Zeldin’s office contacted Haas for information about local food pantries. A man had come to their office for help, they explained, and he needed food.
“I started talking to the local food pantries, and we were discussing how busy it gets around the holidays,” Haas said. “People are having a hard time.”
Haas reached out to Denise Lucas, the founder of the local fundraising organization RMTAS, to team up for a fundraiser. Since she founded RMTAS in 2010, Lucas has raised more than $200,000 to move the town animal shelter, and this year she has expanded the organization’s mission to include fundraising for larger town issues as well.
Together, Lucas and Haas reached out to local businesses and were able to organize a fundraising dinner and collection event at Polish Hall next Monday.
Riverhead Beverage on Osborn Avenue is also accepting donations on behalf of the food drive.
Anyone interested in purchasing tickets in advance can contact Haas at (631) 742-4170 or Lucas at (516) 768-7467.
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