NOSH Needs Freezer For Food Donations

(GLEN COVE, N.Y.) - After feeding the hungry for more than 30 years, the North Shore Soup Kitchen was forced to close temporarily in March 2020 as a result of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. After the pandemic resulted in a regional economic shutdown, the Soup Kitchen tailored its outreach to safely meet an unprecedented need for nutrition assistance by launching NOSH, led by Soup Kitchen volunteer Buffy MeMe Peterson.

Because residents and business owners have donated so generously, Peterson is now spearheading a raffle that will raise funds toward the purchase a new or gently used freezer for storing surplus perishable foods. Tickets are $10 for five chances to win 18 regular baskets, and $5 each to enter the drawing for four grand prize baskets.

“During the past year, NOSH has been a lifeline to so many families in our community, and I am thankful to my lifelong friend Buffy Peterson for thinking of this idea. Based on the overwhelming generosity Glen Cove residents have shown the last year, I have no doubt she will be successful in this latest initiative,” Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) said.

Each week since the Soup Kitchen closed, volunteers have gathered donated food to create “NOSH Bags,” which are delivered to homes on the peninsula between Hempstead Harbor and Oyster Bay. The meal kits, which are crated under the guidance of a volunteer dietician, include ingredients for two meals for a family of four; larger families receive more than one NOSH Bag. “Thanks so much to everyone for their support,” Buffy Peterson said. “My heart is overflowing with JOY!”

Donations toward the purchase of a freezer and/or to help fill NOSH Bags are always welcome. Visit northshoresoupkitchen.org/nosh or call 516-366-0277 for more information about the raffle and their ongoing outreach efforts.