Riverhead Rotary disburses $50,000 emergency fund to local food pantries, soup kitchen and restaurants

Riverhead Rotary recently disbursed $50,000 from an emergency fund to assist local food pantries and local restaurants during this time of crisis.

The club donated $5,000 to each of the food pantries operated by three local churches — Living Water Church in Aquebogue, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Aquebogue and North Shore Christian Church in Calverton — and $5,000 to First Congregation Church of Riverhead, which operates the Bread and More Inn soup kitchen, said Rotary Club member Thaddeus Hill, who chaired a committee that organized the relief effort.

“We raise money for a lot of different things,” Hill said. “We had some emergency funds set aside for some kind of an emergency and we thought this was a good time to use them.”

The idea drew the unanimous support of club members, he said. The committee got input from club members to decide how to disburse the funds, Hill said.

In addition to the food pantries, Riverhead Rotary gave $1,200 each to restaurants that have helped the club raise funds by participating in its annual Rotary Uncorked event. Restaurants prepare and serve food at the club’s May event, an important Rotary fundraiser.

“These businesses donate food and staff to help us raise money every year. So we thought let’s turn it around and helped them,” Hill said.

The committee also identified some downtown restaurants to help.

“We felt like the downtown restaurants are most at risk,” Hill said.

“It was very heartfelt,” he said. “Most of these folks — we told them we were going to stop by and I think most of them thought we were going to hit them up.”

Hill and Riverhead Rotary Club president Preston Schoenfeld visited the restaurants to drop off a letter and a check on April 9 and 10. The business owners were surprised — and many grew emotional.

“It reaffirmed for the club as a whole, when we have the opportunity to do the right thing — to say ‘Thank you. You matter to us. You’re a valuable member of the community.’ It was inspiring to see people’s spirits lifted in a very difficult time,” Hill said.

The club also gave funds to the four servers at the Sea Star Ballroom in Riverhead where the club holds its weekly luncheon meetings, as well as to the chef and the manager there.

Hill had a video produced of the presentations and posted it on the club’s Facebook page.

Rotary is now fundraising to replenish the club’s emergency fund so that it can disburse more money in the community where it’s needed, Hill said.

“Our goal is to raise another $50,000,” Hill said.

“Service above self” — the motto of Rotary International — “has lived out in this,” Hill said. “Rotary is really all about giving back to the community.”

Donations to the club’s emergency fund can be made online here.