Amid the ongoing holiday season, a local Realtor is calling on Islanders to donate to help feed their hungry neighbors.
Feiner Real Estate donated $10,000 to the Island Food Pantry a few days before Thanksgiving. The donation was made through the firm’s Client Choice program, which donates 10 percent of commissions to a Vineyard charity of a buyer or seller’s choice.
Jim Feiner, owner and principal broker of Feiner Real Estate, said the funds came from the sale of the Indian Hill Medical Center in West Tisbury to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. The Caldwells, who owned the property, chose the pantry as the donation recipient.
Feiner highlighted that the donation can provide 28,000 pounds of food, and commended the volunteers at the Food Pantry, which is operated by Island Grown Initiative and feeds one in five year-round Islanders. He said the operation is “like a beehive,” full of activity.
“It’s such a meaningful thing, because people are hungry,” Feiner said.
The donation was one of the many recent efforts made to serve the Island’s food-insecure residents, especially after the federal government shutdown when nutritional assistance programs were frozen. Local farms and businesses offered free food or fundraised. Less than a week before Thanksgiving, Island Grown Initiative also supplied holiday meal ingredients to Island families.
Feiner said he also sent out an email blast to 2,500 people with hopes of nudging enough people to raise $25,000 for the Food Pantry. Feiner directed people to the Island Grown Initiative’s donation page, although he hasn’t been tracking donations. “I wanted to plant a seed and give people an opportunity to donate,” he said.
Merrick Carreiro, director of food equity at Island Grown Initiative, said it would be difficult to determine how many people had donated based on Feiner’s message, because many people make donations at the end of the year. But Carreiro highlighted that monetary donations can go even farther than food donations. Island Grown Initiative has a partnership with the Greater Boston Food Bank that allows them to purchase food at heavily discounted prices.
“The dollar can be stretched so much more than can be spent at a grocery store,” Carreiro said.
Thanks Jim- Excellent example of what we can all do, collectively, to help.
Jim Feiner has spent many years donating a portion of his profits to various Island charitable causes. He generally doesn’t seek recognition or acclaim, but just does it out of a spirit of generosity. We are fortunate to have him as a member of our community.
Hear, hear! Thank you, Jim! And thank you IFP.