Food drive goes full throttle
Riverhead library and its volunteers are doubling their efforts this year
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Riverhead High School Council for Unity students made posters last week while Town Board members, Riverhead Free Library employees and volunteers sorted through items already donated for the upcoming drive to stock the town's food pantries.
Food for Fines is a program Riverhead Free Library has been running for the past three years in which people with overdue books or items can bring in nonperishable items for local food banks and have their fines erased.
In the past, the items were collected at the library over a two-week period in November, and then distributed to local food banks, said Liz Stokes, the library's circulation director and founder of the program.
But this year it will be getting a lot bigger.
There will be collection boxes located at numerous sites throughout town, and collections will go on for an entire month, instead of two weeks. Volunteers will be making daily deliveries of the collected items to local food banks, said Ms. Stokes.
And you don't need to have an overdue library item to donate, either.
"Right now, the economy has been so bad and food pantries are really hurting, and some of them are closing their doors early because they don't have any food," said library director Lisa Jacobs. "So this is us doing our part to help. It's a community effort, and people really get enthusiastic about it."
Over the past three years of the program, more than 4,000 items were donated, Ms. Stokes said.
This year, there will be collection boxes at the library, Town Hall, the town senior center, the recreation center, Riverhead High School, AME Zion Church in Riverside and First Baptist Church of Riverhead, Ms. Stokes said.
The items will be delivered on a daily basis by volunteers from Riverhead Youth Bureau, Riverhead Council for Unity, the town supervisor's office, Riverhead School District employees, the Riverhead Town Women's Club, the town police department, Riverhead Fire Department, the town recreation department, Riverhead Moose Lodge, Riverhead Rotary Club and several individuals, Ms. Stokes said.
Among the places the items will be delivered to are the Long Island Council of Churches, The Salvation Army, Word of Life Ministries, Joseph's Storehouse in Living Water Full Gospel Church, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Open Arms Care Center, Bread and More Soup Kitchen and three shelters for battered women, Ms. Stokes said.
The program runs from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30, but Ms. Stokes said that since a press release was issued last Wednesday announcing the drive, several boxes of items have already been donated.
The program is seeking donations of nonperishable food items, diapers, toothpaste or toothbrushes, even gift cards from supermarkets.
Zona Stroy, the chairperson of Open Arms, welcomed the help in collecting food. Open Arms runs a lunch program at First Congregational Church on weekdays and a food pantry at First Baptist Church between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Wednesday to Friday.
"We need more food," she said. "We are seeing many more people this year."
She estimated the number of visits have increased by more than 10 percent this year.
"We are seeing new families and new people," she said. "Usually in the winter, we get between 70 and 80 people a day for lunch. But we've been having that many now for the last few weeks. It's a little bit disconcerting.
"A couple days ago, we had 85. I don't think we've ever had 85 before the winter."
Ms. Stroy said many people have to cut back on buying food in order to pay for things like heating and gas and rent.
"We're hoping to start a tsunami of goodwill in which neighbors are helping neighbors," Ms. Stokes said.
tgannon@timesreview.com
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