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Health & Fitness

RAINE Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive a Success

News about the charitable group RAINE, which operates a Food for Families program through St. Benedict Church in Holmdel.

The spirit of Thanks and Giving was in the air at Beers St. School in Hazlet last night with almost 200 people from the Hazlet schools, local Girl and Boy Scout troops and neighbors pulling together to assemble 250 boxes of donated food for those who need an extra hand this Thanksgiving.

The annual RAINE (Reaching All In Need Everyday) Thanksgiving Food Drive was well underway! RAINE is a non-profit organization established to assist families in our community primarily during the holiday season.

The task at hand on Monday night was to compile boxes of food donations. In a very organized chaos, volunteers that were mostly young teens made their way around the gymnasium to put the essentials for a perfect Thanksgiving. Within 25 minutes, the line of completed boxes filled the entire hallway and along the administration office of Beers St. School.  While boxes were being checked and double checked before being loaded into vehicles, there were adult volunteers awaiting their delivery assignments at the front of the gym. Everybody was ready to help whether their time and talent was big or small.

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RAINE extended their huge thanks to the Hazlet Schools and Park East on Holmdel Road in Hazlet for their food drives. Gratitude also went to Trump Golf Course in Colts Neck along with Foodtown on Route 35 and ShopRite on Route 36 for the donated turkeys and canned goods for Thanksgiving dinners.

One young volunteer from Raritan High School, Allison Serpico, said that she had been giving her time during the holiday season for 6 or 7 years.  Not only does she volunteer her time but she also donates food items at Thanksgiving and gifts during the Christmas season.

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"It's something I've been doing for such a long time and I really enjoy it each year," said Serpico.

Not only were the young students from Hazlet helping but many familiar faces from town aided in the sorting. Local business owner, Ralph Seber of Lighthouse Cigars was busy loading the boxes of food in trucks, minivans, and SUVs while Beers St School Nurse, Mary Nichols, was handing out cans of vegetables for the care packages.  Beers St PTO Vice President, Debbie Spirko, was hidden behind a tower of Stove Top Stuffing!

If you were unable to make a donation during this month's food drive or you schedule conflicted with last night's delivery, don't worry, as December has many opportunities for the community to help RAINE.

  • A Toy Drive begins in December at the local Hazlet Schools. 
  • The 10th Annual Cocktail Party will be held on Thursday December 8th at Jacques Catering in Middletown. Tickets are $50 per person, which includes open bar, hors d'ouvres and entertainment donated by DJ Cash.  If you bring a gift card of $10 or more for older children, you will receive a free strip of auction tickets. 
  • And of course, the week prior to Christmas, you can always donate your time to sort and wrap all the wonderful toys and gifts RAINE receives during December.

You can follow the RAINE calendar on this blog on Patch.com, facebook.com/raine and on Twitter @RAINEHazlet

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