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Overwhelming response to need of neighbors
Nov. 1 saw the Smithtown Emergency Food Pantry with shelves only one-third full. Our basement storage room was empty — not even one box or can. Every week we received donations but they could not keep up with the demand. By then we had experienced a 75 percent increase in the number of families requesting assistance.
The message that we needed help went out into the community and once again the people of Smithtown rallied to provide for neighbors in need. Food drives were held, people stood in front of stores and handed out flyers, funds were collected. Assistance came from all areas of our town, individuals who kept calling and asking what we needed, children who walked from house to house collecting from their neighbors, businesses and their employees, business organizations, fraternal and social organizations, the school district offices and the schools and clubs. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, sports clubs, town employees, hospital employees and many local churches were very supportive.
Our shelves are now well-stocked. The week of Thanksgiving we could barely walk through our storage area. We provided 87 families with Thanksgiving dinners.
The food and funds donated will provide needed assistance for the coming winter months.
I thank all who have provided support; your generosity and compassion is greatly valued. I am privileged to work with dedicated members of the seven covenant churches, who not only provide year-round donations but staff and maintain the food pantry. [Editor's note: Those churches are the Byzantine Church of the Resurrection, First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown, Smithtown United Methodist Church, St. Andrews Lutheran Church, St. James Episcopal Church, St. Thomas of Canterbury Episcopal Church and St. James Lutheran Church.] Every month one of the churches is responsible to provide the volunteers needed to keep the pantry open Monday through Friday from 9 am until noon. This is a minimum of 140 volunteer hours every month. During November at least double that amount was volunteered.
Let us not become weary in doing good.
Pat Westlake
Executive Coordinator
Smithtown Township Emergency Food Pantry
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December 17, 2009
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| 1858: Adolph Simon Ochs, publisher of The New York Times. |
| 1862: Jane Delano, nurse, teacher, founder of the Red Cross. |
| 1890: Vasav Nijinsky, Russian ballet dancer. |
| 1922: Jack Kerouac, American novelist (On the Road). |
| 1928: Edward Albee, American dramatist (Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf). |
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