A time for giving back

Last year, hundreds of people helped pack thousands of pounds of food at Mid-Island Collision.

Christina Daly/Herald

Mid-Island Collision owner Bob Jesberger has purchased $150,000 of food to give to those who need it.

Christina Daly/Herald

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With Thanksgiving just around the corner, many Rockville Centre residents are not only getting ready for a feast with their families, but preparing to help those less fortunate celebrate as well.

Thanksgiving is always a time when people decide to give back to their community. Leading the way again this year is Bob Jesberger, owner of Mid-Island Collision, on Lakeview Avenue. Jesberger has again purchased $150,000 worth of food to provide more than 15,000 meals to Long Islanders in need.

“I’m supposed to do it,” he said. “I’m Christian, and I tithe. We do it because there’s a need for it. It seems like every year it gets bigger and bigger.”

Jesberger purchased six tractor-trailers’ worth of food. “According to the distributor we bought food from, no company has purchased this much food before,” he said. “It’s going to be a big benefit, and hopefully word gets out.”

Individuals as well as food pantries can come to Jesberger’s shop to pick up food the day before the holiday. He is calling on volunteers to help pack it up and distribute it. Mid-Island needs hundreds of people to organize and pack the food and then load it into trucks on Nov. 25, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the following day, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. To schedule a time, email Nicole Tirino at Nicole@midislandcollision.com.

Packing food isn’t the only way to help. While Jesberger plans to feed families all over Long Island, other organizations will focus on needy families in Rockville Centre.

“We need food for the pantry, and we’re in desperate need of turkeys,” said Marguerite Keller, co-director of the Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre. “We have the freezer space for turkeys. We have over 115 families that we’re giving to for the week of Thanksgiving, and right now I have about 10 turkeys in our freezer.”

Many local food pantries are still seeking donations, especially Thanksgiving trimmings and turkeys, which are in short supply at many pantries this year. Local pantries tend to cater to local residents, making sure the neediest people in Rockville Centre are fed.