A way to remember his mother

This Thanksgiving will be no different than the past 12 Thanksgivings for Nick Paxinos and his daughters Arianna, 8, and Kayla, 4, as they collect money and food donations for the First Baptist Church/H.O. Scott Education & Community Center’s Peach Cobbler Kitchen on Redfern Avenue in Far Rockaway.

Paxinos, a Lynbrook resident, who owns Woodmere Lanes, started this Thanksgiving tradition as a way to remember his mother who passed away before his daughters were born.

“I grew up in Far Rockaway and each year my family would have a different guest join us a Thanksgiving,” he said.

“My family would take in people who didn’t have a place to go or who were fighting with their family. I wanted a way to bridge the past to the future and this is what I came up with.”

Last year, the Paxinos family donated 50 turkey dinners at the Compare Foods supermarket in Far Rockaway that his mother used to shop at.

Paxinos felt the food wasn’t getting to the right people so this year he is hoping to donate 100 dinners to the First Baptist Church. He said the church is holding their own Thanksgiving dinner and hopes people will be sent home with food to enjoy.

Two years ago Paxinos paid for the food all on his own and last year, Arianna asked him to get help from others so they could feed more people.

“What’s really changed for me is that I’m not an attention grabber and when Arianna became old enough to speak, she showed me that it’s not in the true spirit to not ask for help,” he said. “So I reached out to people for help and created a website as a new way to get people’s attention.”

Paxinos said he currently has $459 in monetary donations and numerous food donations. For food donations, he is asking for canned vegetables, instant mashed potatoes, boxed or bagged stuffing mix, canned or jarred gravy and other non-perishables.

He also said if anyone is interested in donating food or money they can come to Woodmere Lanes at 948 Broadway in Woodmere, or visit his website, www.paxfamilythanksgivingwebs.com, where a PayPal account is set up for monetary donations.

This year, Paxinos will begin preparing for the delivery by individually wrapping the dinners in bags on the Monday before Thanksgiving. On Tuesday, he will buy the last thing on this list, the turkeys.

On Wednesday, his friends with trucks will come on to pick up the dinners and help deliver them to Far Rockaway. Arianna and Kayla will help by wrapping the dinners and carrying the bags of food and turkeys to the trucks.

When asked what they’re thankful for, Arianna is quick to say she’s thankful for her mom and dad. Kayla on the other hand took a few minutes to answer and then said, “I’m thankful for chocolate pies.”