Local Small Business Owner Purchases Non-Perishable Food to Feed More Than 130,000 Food-poor Individuals for Thanksgiving
Press Release – Rockville Centre, NY (October 26, 2017) – One of the largest food charity events in the Tri-State area is returning after a one year hiatus. The three day Fill-The-Bag event will kick off at 7am on November 20th when hundreds of men, women and children will donate their time to fill more than 15,000 bags with non-perishable food items to create a Thanksgiving meal.
Robert Jesberger, owner and president of Mid Island Collision, personally donated more than $200,000 for the Fill-The-Bag event including the purchase of four tractor trailer loads of canned corn, ham, sweet potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, fruit cocktail and string beans; boxed stuffing and mashed potatoes intended to feed more than 130,000 food-poor individuals.
Mid Island Collision’s unique Fill-The-Bag event, one the largest Thanksgiving-related charitable efforts in the Tri-State area, allows men, women and children, of all abilities and walks of life, to simply donate their time to fill grocery-style bags with each non-perishable food item that will create a Thanksgiving meal.
The bags are handed out to individuals in need and picked up by more than 100 food charities, homeless shelters, church pantries, military veterans organizations and other non-profit food related charities located throughout Long Island and the five boroughs of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, including Salvation Army, Long Island Cares and Catholic Charities.
“Our financially struggling neighbors down the street, homeless individuals, veterans—no adult or child should go hungry, especially during this time of year. Fill-The-Bag is my personal way of helping as many people as possible have a Thanksgiving meal.” Robert Jesberger said. “This event is also about community. By using my own money to purchase food items, it provides people the opportunity to give back by simply volunteering their time to help their fellowman. Every bag matters, and while this effort is long removed from being able to end hunger, we can make a significant difference in providing humanity during a special time of year.”
Jesberger, a passionate philanthropist with a fundamental true commitment to help people, started a Thanksgiving related food charity 25 years ago which eventually transformed into the Fill-The-Bag event to give everyone a chance to volunteer and give back to their community. To date, he has personally donated more than $2million to aid the area’s food poor. This is in addition to other philanthropic support he provides to a myriad of charities throughout each year including Administration for Children’s Services located in Bronx, NY; Make-A-Wish Foundation and most recently, (to aide survivors of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.)
Volunteers are invited to Fill-The-Bag at Mid Island Collision, located at 20 Lakeview Ave. Rockville Centre, NY 11570, 7am-7pm, Monday, November 20and 7am-7pm Tuesday, November 21, 2017. Food charities will need to pre-register by contacting the Fill-The-Bag team at 516-829-8374 orMICFillTheBag@gmail.com. Pick up will only be held on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 from 8am-3pm.
Mid Island Collision’s Fill-The-Bag event was created by owner and president Bob Jesberger. He has been bringing the Tri-State community together for food-related charity events for 25 years, providing meals to more than 1million of the region’s food poor including families, military veterans and homeless in need of meals during the holiday season. For more information, call 516-829-8374 or email MICFillTheBag@gmail.com. Follow Mid Island Collision’s Fill-The-Bag Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/MICFillTheBag and (INSTAGRAM/TWITTER/YOUTUBE) #FillTheBag
