A mountain of pasta, chicken noodle soup, black beans, rice, apple juice, popcorn and everything in between has taken over the conference table and a large portion of the floor in the Mayor’s Office.
Mayor Patrick Murphy’s two-week long food drive to benefit the Merrimack Valley Food Bank netted 1,800 pounds of food by the end of the Mayor’s Holiday Reception Thursday night . . . and Friday morning the food kept coming, bringing the total to more than 2,000 pounds.
Thank you to all who donated! The big donors included City of Lowell Sanitary Code Inspector and Acre neighborhood leader Dave Ouellette (413 pounds); Greater Lowell Technical High School Committee member Ray Boutin (215 pounds); the City of Lowell Law Department (211 pounds), with 77 of those pounds coming from Principal Clerk Marti Pietroforte; City Councilor John Leahy (163 pounds); City Councilor Rodney Elliott (133 pounds); City Councilor Marty Lorrey (128 pounds); City Manager Bernie Lynch (60 pounds).
For every pound of food donated, the donor received a raffle ticket for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the December 30 Patriots/Dolphins game. The big winner was City Councilor John Leahy.
“At a time when so many families are in need, I’m proud of all the caring city residents, workers and officials who stepped up to help meet it,” said Mayor Patrick Murphy.
The food bank supplies 3 million pounds of food annually to 80 shelters, pantries and meals programs in 25 area communities.
Earlier this year, a two-week competition within City Hall organized by Treasurer Liz Craveiro, resulted in a collection of 2,500 pounds of food for the food bank.
“We appreciate the continuing support from Mayor Murphy, the City Council, School committee and Manager Lynch of the Food Bank,” said MVFB Executive Director Amy Pessia. “The food drive was made even more exciting with the chance to win Patriots tickets, and the competitive nature of our City leaders and employees was fun to watch. Our supporters throughout the City know that when they donate to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, they are helping people of all ages, cultures and walks of life right here in our community. We are honored and blessed by this generous outpouring of donations!”
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