The Rockville Centre Homemakers are expanding their support for local veterans — this time through a food drive that brought in dozens of donations from members during the group’s February meeting.
Held at the Rockville Centre Parks and Recreation Center on Feb. 3, the drive marked the first time the Homemakers collected food specifically for veterans. The effort was inspired by the work of American Legion Post 303 in Rockville Centre, which supports the Nassau County Veterans Service Agency.
“We donated the food to the Nassau County Veterans Service Agency,” said Homemakers President Maryann Grandazza. “All the members of the Rockville Centre Homemakers brought in different types of food, basically food that can be prepped in a microwave, since not everyone has an oven. Over the years, we’ve collected food for different food pantries and different organizations.”
More than 40 members contributed, with many shopping in bulk at stores such as BJ’s to donate items including canned tuna and chicken noodle soup. Local veterans attended the group’s monthly meeting to collect the donations.
Frank Colon Jr., past post commander of American Legion Post 303, said the partnership with the Homemakers builds on years of shared service.
“When I meet with the Homemakers, I tell them about what’s going on with veterans, what we’re doing and the different programs,” Colon said. “So the ladies collected food.”
The Homemakers have supported veterans in a variety of ways since 2013. One of their long-standing traditions includes donating socks each year.
“We have been donating to the veterans since 2013 with socks, and that will be a tradition that we continue every year,” Grandazza said. “This year, we decided on the veterans because we had donated more than 300 pairs of socks to them back in November, and they told us they were short on food.”
Many donations from the group are handmade by members. The Homemakers, which began more than a century ago, were originally founded for women to teach each other skills while men served in war. Today, they describe themselves as a group of women with expertise in crafts, healthy cooking, sewing, knitting, crocheting, card games and more.
“We’re a big organization that donates to the community,” she said. “We also make shawls for Mercy Hospital for cancer patients, surgery dolls that go to different hospitals to help children understand what types of surgery they’re having, and breast pillows for Bethany House to help cancer patients. So, if anybody is looking to do community service, it’s a great place to be.”
