MIDDLETOWN – The annual Thanksgiving Drive distribution event of Regional Economic Community Action Program (RECAP) connected 500 families with turkeys in time for Thanksgiving. Staff and volunteers at the annual event, this year on Monday, November 19at the Mill at Middletown, also gave out 450 packages of vegetables, canned goods, and desserts.
Volunteers and donors from across Orange County helped make the event a success and streamlined work at the distribution site. Youth from the Middletown YMCA Leaders Club assembled hundreds of turkey packages the weekend before and Gospel Service West Point, led by Chaplain Will Butler, delivered more than 70 cases of turkeys and did lots of heavy lifting on Monday. Monroe American Legion donated turkeysand Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County Gleaning Program donated turkeys and over 50 cases of fresh produce including pumpkins, squash and broccoli.
The Powelton Club of Newburgh donated 80 turkeys. Middletown Cares Coalition provided hundreds of reusable bags used for the packages and Shoprite of Middletown donated turkeys and cases of plastic and paper bags. Substantial cash donations came from Orange & Rockland Utilities. Balchem Corporation, United Way of Dutchess& Orange, Alex Wander, Craig Calzaretta& MichelleKoury, and Tony Boffa’s Restaurant.
RECAP’s Mill Street Café in Middletown provided lunch and hot chocolate for volunteers. Middletown resident Logan Eisenberg, 12, collected donations from friends and family and was there on distribution day to blow up balloons, sort vegetables, pack bags, and greet visitors and volunteers.
“This year was definitely the year of giving,” said Francine Tavares, RECAP’s Coordinator of Human Services who manages the program’s food pantry and organized the Thanksgiving event. “We witnessed a record amount of people and organizations wanting to give back. With their help we were able to help so many families.”
About the Program
Staff and volunteers at RECAP’s Nutrition Program work to connect the area’s hungry residents with food and encourage participants to utilize other food resources in the community. An emergency food pantry is available on weekdays as well as a daily supply of breads and cakes. The program hosts and annual Thanksgiving Drive and Strike Out Hunger Bowl-a-thon every fall.
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