‘I Feel Blessed’: Peekskill Businessman Uses Good Fortune to Help Others
A longtime Peekskill businessman is reaching into his wallet during this time of giving to help others in need.
Gregory Lizotte, owner of Northern Westchester Collision on Washington Street for the last 35 years, decided three weeks ago he wanted to make a difference this holiday season by lending a hand to those in the community struggling.
“It’s a sad time right now. So many people are having issues,” Lizotte said. “I feel blessed that I am able to do this. You give and it comes back to you in many ways.”
Lizotte contacted Catholic Charities, a federation of approximately 90 agencies and programs throughout the 10 counties of the Archdiocese of New York that assists the hungry and homeless and tries to resolve crises, for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
Since the pandemic struck in March, Catholic Charities has provided more than one million meals and set up more than 125 pop-up food pantries from Brewster to Staten Island.
“The need has been so great,” said Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of New York. “We love business partners. When we were contacted by Greg, we said this was perfect.”
Lizotte donated enough money to purchase 100 turkeys and nutritious trimmings, including vegetables and fruit juice.
“For us what’s really important is families want to be able to take the food home, cook it and serve it as a meal,” Sullivan said. “We think it respects the person’s dignity.”
Catholic Charities teamed up with Assumption Church in Peekskill, which will distribute the food to families on a first come, first serve basis.
Father Esteban Sanchez, pastor of Assumption Church, said the parish has been assisting about 500 families a week with food.
“We were not expecting this,” Sanchez said of Lizotte’s generosity. “It doesn’t happen very often.”
Anyone interested in making a donation to Catholic Charities can call 646-794-2411 or email cc.donation@archny.org.
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