Volunteering has been a life-long mission for Tom. In college, he was an active member of the Appalachian Project volunteering across the country and state. For his last two years of college, Tom and a group of volunteers worked on 103rd and 3rd, in the heart of East Harlem.

“I have a soft spot for East Harlem from my college experience,” said Tom. “After that, I went on to raise a family and have a career, so the amount of volunteer work I did for a good long stretch of time was kind of limited.”

Being out of the ‘volunteer-force’ for those years didn’t stop Tom from jumping right back in once the time was right. About 10 years ago, he started assisting families with tax returns around the city, and two years ago, upon his retirement, chose to commit a large share of his time giving back.

“I said, ‘I really need to do more’” said Tom. “[My wife and I] made the decision to spend our time giving back…and that’s really what this world needs today.”

And that’s just what he’s done. For the past two years, Tom has been an ever-present face in the LSA Food Pantry.

“It’s a family – the LSA family,” said Tom. “You see the same people on a regular basis…there’s a certain bond with the people you see each week, and there’s a certain continuity that I think the clients appreciate.”

It’s more than just the clients who are grateful to Tom. The whole LSA family is grateful for his dedication and commitment to the agency. Thank you, Tom!

Without our volunteers, LSA wouldn’t be able to do the good work that the community needs.  As Tom also notes, many of our Food Pantry volunteers also give time in other areas – such as the afterschool program, as well.  If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact Trish Gough at tgough@lsafhs.org.

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Here are a few photos of families picking up the donated groceries.

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According to the latest survey from the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, nearly one in four children in NYC live in a home that can’t always afford to eat. We certainly experience this in our food pantry, which has seen an increase in demand for our services.

That is why we are so thankful to the following organizations for their fantastic gifts that will make this an extra-special Thanksgiving for our families!

• Ten classes at Horace Mann School held food drives to provide a week’s worth of groceries to ten LSA families.
• The Convent of the Sacred Heart School‘s PTA donated 50 apple pies for Thanksgiving dessert
• City Harvest donated 20 turkeys
• Students from P138 in East Harlem donated staples to our pantry, collected in a food drive
• The parish at St. Frances de Sales held a food drive and donated of 75 grocery bags of food staples to our pantry!

We also give special thanks to the students of the The Brearley School for donating 21 boxes of beautiful children’s books, which will feed the imaginations of the many children who visit LSA.

Thank you!

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These donations are particularly timely, as we tend to see an increase in need for food pantry services during the holiday season.

During their visit, the students, ranging from grades 7-12, learned about our food pantry and the other programs we offer.  They asked great questions, and even helped to stock the shelves.

Our thanks to the students, teachers and families of P138 for their fantastic donation!

To learn about hosting a food drive and other volunteer opportunities, visit our Volunteer page.

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