POINT PLEASANT — Members of the local nonprofit Panthers, Let’s Eat were as busy as Santa’s elves last week as they worked to deliver hundreds of toys to children all over Point Pleasant.
On the morning of Dec. 17, a group of about 40 community members worked together to shop and pack toys for almost 200 Point Pleasant Borough students in need. Families registered for Christmas with the Panthers, Let’s Eat program were able to request gifts to help during the holiday season.
Kate Roach, director of Panthers, Let’s Eat, said some of these gifts included games, sports equipment, dolls and babies and makeup kits.
Panthers, Let’s Eat provides food to students in the Point Pleasant Borough district when school is not in session.
“We deliver healthy, kid-friendly food to over 200 Point Borough students all summer long as well as winter break and spring break. We provide emergency food and clothing assistance to families any time of year when they need it,” said Roach.
In the last two years, the nonprofit has put over $100,000 in healthy, fresh food and gift cards to families in the community, and it has provided over 45,000 meals.
“We use middle school and high school students for volunteers and they have put 900 hours of service back into their community in the last two years alone,” said Roach. “This is our fifth year teaming with Top That! Donuts and Beaver Dam Hardware, who sponsor a gift drive to benefit our students.”
Top That! Donuts, located on Ocean Avenue in Point Pleasant Beach, had set up the store to look like the North Pole, and volunteers, whom Roach called “elves,” were able to pick out numerous gifts for all the requests received from the families.
All these gifts come from a group effort by the town of Point Pleasant, according to Roach. “They have truly decided as a collective whole that we take care of our own. We have had numerous community members have holiday parties and have their friends bring gift cards and toys instead of gifts for the host.”
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