Several Patchogue restaurant owners gathered recently with community and civic leaders at The Tap Room on West Main Street to present $3,000 in donations from the restaurants.
The Restaurant Committee members also vowed ongoing support of local charitable and community efforts. All the money donated came from a golf outing that was run this summer by the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce’s Restaurant Committee.
“A lot of the restaurants gave a helping hand with the golf outing, either by attending or donating gift cards or baskets,” said James Bonanno, the committee’s president and a Tap Room co-owner. “We wanted to donate locally. And we’re doing more and more things to raise money, like the breakfast crawl.
“We have more ideas so this isn’t just a one-time thing to support causes.”
$1,000 checks were made out to the Greater Patchogue Foundation’s Beautification Committee, The Patchogue Neighbors Soup Kitchens, Inc., and the Patchogue-Medford Youth & Community Services.
“The fact that the restaurant committee formed and you guys work so well together, I think it’s another thing that sets Patchogue apart from other communities,” said Marian Russo, a Beautification Committee member and the village’s Community Development Agency executive director. “You understand that working together you get more done and that’s what Patchogue is all about.”
Representing the soup kitchens, the Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter of the Congregational Church of Patchogue called it a special thing for the restaurants to recognize local people going hungry.
“A lot of people think about hurricanes when they get hit by a hurricane. A lot of people think about pregnancy when they get pregnant,” he said. “It’s rare and it’s beautiful that the Restaurant Committee thinks about hunger, even in times when we’re not particularly hungry but we know people are.”
Bonanno also encouraged the local organizations to reach out to the Restaurant Committee for help with any particular projects or efforts in the future.
Top: Patchogue restaurant owners appear with the recipients of the $3,000 that was raised for local groups this summer at the Restaurant Committee golf outing. (Credit: Michael White)
