Pleasantville Lions Brave Heavy Rain to Hold Food Drive
Heavy rains didn’t stop members of the Pleasantville Lions Club from spending five hours outside on Sunday collecting food for local residents in need.
Club members set up a canopy outside the doors of Key Food on Bedford Road from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to collect items for the Interfaith Emergency Food Pantry, which is run out of the Pleasantville United Methodist Church.
“Anybody could do this on a sunny day,” joked member Mark Ipri as he worked under the canopy as the rain fell.
Sunday’s food drive was part of a much larger initiative, explained club president Mike Cusack.
“We’re focusing on this during this week because the Lions International has asked all the clubs to focus on food,” Cusack said. “We’re doing a worldwide day of service to fight hunger and poverty so that’s why we chose this week.”
While it may not have been an ideal time for a food drive, members tried hard to get the word out. Ipri posted notices on the Lions Club Facebook page and through its Twitter account, @pvnylions.
The pair provided a list of non-perishable items they were looking for. Among the food donated were coffee, cookies, juice boxes, jelly, ranch dressing and tuna fish. Some shoppers also made cash donations.
The Interfaith Emergency Food Pantry serves between 30 and 40 families and is open on alternate Fridays and Saturdays from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Methodist church on Bedford Road. Clients come from Millwood, Chappaqua, Pleasantville, Thornwood and Hawthorne. Each client must have a letter of referral from an area clergy member or government agency that verifies they are in need.
Longtime Lion Patrick Fogarty said the club donates to several other organizations, including the Community Scholarship Fund of Pleasantville. The organization also collects eyeglasses and hearing aids as part of an international initiative, he said.
“We’re associated with eyes because of Helen Keller,” Fogarty said. “She befriended us back in the 1920s. They made it a basic premise to always help people with eye issues. In the ‘70s and ‘80s we did a lot with glaucoma. Now we do the vacation school for the blind up in Rockland and Guiding Eyes for the Blind.”
The Lions Club’s Pleasantville chapter currently has about 30 members, but is always looking for more. The club is especially eager to attract younger residents and women to join its ranks, Fogarty said. The club meets the third Thursday of each month at Mediterraneo Ristorante & Café on Cooley Street at 7 p.m. More information can be found at www.pleasantvillenylions.org.
“Ninety-nine percent of what we collect, we give out,” Fogarty said.
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