Center Moriches churches collect food for holiday season

A couple of churches in the Center Moriches area are collecting food throughout October and November in order to prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Two churches, the Presbyterian Church of the Moriches and the St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, are specifically collecting donations of food for the holiday season.  Both churches gave specific instructions for people seeking to give food to them.  The collected food will be turned into meals for local residents to enjoy. 

The Presbyterian Church of the Moriches will receive donations on Mondays from 4 p.m. through 7:30 p.m., as its pantry is being set up.

“We will be accepting food donations for Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Presbyterian Church of the Moriches member Dawn Murray said.  “We especially need stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, vegetables, cake and brownie mixes, and instant mashed potatoes.”

St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church will be accepting donations both in front of the church and at its food pantry, Ernie’s Place.  Ernie’s Place also accepts food donations throughout the year.  The church’s parish social ministry coordinator, Katie Spellman, said that food donations should be left in a brown bin in front of and to the left of Ernie’s Place.

“We will be providing a full holiday meal for those registered and living within our parish boundaries,” Spellman said.  “We typically request the fixings for a traditional Thanksgiving meal:  canned veggies, stuffing, potatoes, crackers, apple juice, cookies and pies, all nonperishable."