Camaraderie and good food come together in a lively atmosphere to support the Island Food Pantry on Thursday, March 14, at Offshore Ale’s popular Dine-to-Donate night. According to a press release, the restaurant makes it easy to take a day off from cooking for a good cause by donating 20 percent of all pre-tax food sales from 11:30 am to 8:30 pm to the nonprofit group fighting hunger on Martha’s Vineyard.
The Food Pantry event at Offshore Ale also features a silent auction with seven creatively themed packages. “Pure Indulgence” includes a three-month health club membership, a one-hour massage, an astrology session, a manicure/pedicure, and body products. The “Gift of Romance” includes gift cards for jewelry, chocolates, flowers, and fashion accessories. Other auction packages include golf for four at Farm Neck and Mink Meadows, a paella-making kit, gardening, a double-date night, and a local gourmet DIY dinner.
Details on all auction packages and the Dine-to-Donate coupon — which must be presented at the restaurant to have your meal credited to the Island Food Pantry — are at islandfoodpantry.org/community/events. To make dinner reservations at Offshore Ale, located on Kennebec Avenue in Oak Bluffs, call 508-693-2626.
Starting at its inception in 1981, the Island Food Pantry has had a simple but effective mission: neighbors helping neighbors get through the winter. Over the last two years, however, the Food Pantry evolved in several significant ways to better serve Island residents in times of need.
The Food Pantry expanded from an off-season operation to a full twelve months of service. It reorganized its pick-up site at the Stone Church in Vineyard Haven so that clientele are able to select the food that best meets their family’s dietary needs and preferences, and transformed its operations to offer a healthier diversity of food. By joining the Greater Boston Food Bank, the organization is able to maximize its resources, buying 12,000 pounds of packaged, refrigerated, and frozen food to distribute each month. Nearly 800 households — some 1,500 children, adults, and seniors — have reaped the benefits of these changes.
A team of dedicated volunteers, food drives, and community donation boxes are important elements of the organization’s work to address hunger on Martha’s Vineyard, but the increased need calls for additional funds in the upcoming year. For more information on the Island Food Pantry, a donor-supported nonprofit organization, visit islandfoodpantry.org/ or call 508-693-4764.