Sheriff’s 9th Annual Food Drive Brings in 200,000 Pounds of Food
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Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Patrick Sargent, GoLocal Worcester Contributor
From left to right: Michael Gross, General Manager of Harr Toyota, Lew Evangelidis, Worcester County Sheriff, Finz from Worcester Sharks, Gordon Hargrove of the Friendly House, Michael Myers of the Worcester Sharks
On Monday morning at the Friendly House in Worcester, local needy families received their Thanksgiving meals and winter coats for their children. At the 9th Annual Worcester County Sheriff Food Drive, 200,000 tons of food were donated by several local businesses and organizations, and by the residents of Worcester. 325 winter coats were donated by Harr Toyota.
"It means the world to me," said Worcester resident Melissa Dellomo. "I'm struggling to get by. I'm barely working and I'm having trouble paying child support. This will save me $50 to $75 and that doesn't include what I'll save on the coats I will receive."
2,000 Residents to Receive Food
"The Sheriff's Annual Food Drive has a great tradition of giving back and this year over 200,000 pounds of donated food items were collected which will provide a wonderful Thanksgiving meal to over 2,000 local families in need during the holiday season," said Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis.
The food will be distributed by the Friendly House, a local non-profit neighborhood and outreach center. "This is the most food we've ever seen in all the years I've been here. Over the holidays, we will be able to help at least 2,000 families. This year, rather than just only giving a turkey, we have provided whole meals," said Gordon Hargrove, Executive Director of Friendly House. Hargrove has been at the Friendly House since 1957.
Josephine Velez, the Director of Social Services at Friendly House, has been at the Friendly House for over 30 years. Velez said, "This is excellent. It's wonderful. There are 325 brand new jackets and this is the second year in a row we've been able to give the kids brand new jackets. Its the winter. There are so many families not able to pay rent or bills. Now they will at least have their children warm for the winter."
Partners in Charity
The sponsors of this year's food drive include Price Chopper, Worcester County Food Bank, WPI Fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha, Fallon Community Healthcare, Worcester Academy, DiMitria Delights, 2 Ovens Restaurant, David Gibbs and Family, Charter TV3, WCRN, Harr Toyota, and other private donors.
Senior Whole Health donated bags to hold the Thanksgiving meals being handed out. Price Chopper did a week-long collection, collecting 1,100 pounds of food.
Harr Toyota provided the hundreds of winter jackets. "Harr has been in the community since the 1940's," said Michael Gross, General Manager. "We are proud to be part of such a well-run event."
WPI's Lambda Chi Alpha collected over 10,000 pounds of food from Worcester residents. "The kids from WPI are unbelievable," said Michael Myers, Senior Director of Business and Community Development for the Worcester Sharks. "They literally hung bags on every door in Worcester. They asked the people to fill it and all the kids had to do was come by and pick it up."
"We are all partners in this food drive," said Evangelidis. "The sheriff's office is just blessed to be the coordinator."
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