By Melanie Cane
Rhonda Barnat and Sue Wexler, Director of Community Outreach
Love is in the air….and the décor at Bread of Life’s annual benefit on October 19th. That’s because the theme of the evening was sharing love by giving to those in need. The venue, Rye Presbyterian Church, was decorated with hearts, love quotes, and posters featuring individual food recipients' stories.
The guests, including many families, donors and volunteers, were encouraged to “love their neighbor” at the event as well as in their everyday lives. The Bread of Life’s mission is based on sharing the love of God by loving one’s neighbor, not only by providing food for the food insecure, but also by making the food recipients feel loved and cared for.
Colleen Margiloff, the M.C. for the evening, talked about the increasing number of food insecure people the Bread of Life is feeding as well as the 63,000 pounds of food rescued weekly and how Bread of Life, through food rescue, manages to turn $1 into a meal. All of this is due primarily to the efforts of Pastor Pasquale Falco, one of the organization’s founders, who devotes seven days a week to rescuing and delivering food for the food recipients of the Bread of Life.
Many think of Bread of Life as the quaint little food pantry on Orchard avenue, but Bread of Life delivers food free of charge to 14 different food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and senior centers throughout southern Westchester County. This was all highlighted during the benefit where love was shared far and wide.
Local restaurants donated deliciously prepared food for the guests. Entertainment was provided by a local band of Rye High School musicians and the Rhythm on Rye Acapella group.
Sue Wexler, Director of Community Outreach, said, “The most critical thing to us at the BOL, is each individual person. The faces of hunger are men, women, seniors and children. This could be any one of us. We need each person we serve, who volunteers, and who donates to know they are important to God and they are important to us.”