Saturday, November 14, 2026
Bags of stuffing, cans of cranberry sauce, boxes of cereal and other canned and nonperishable items piled up outside two Valley Stream grocery stores as residents stocked local food pantries ahead of Thanksgiving.
The Valley Stream Chamber of Commerce wrapped up its holiday food drive Nov. 7 and 8, with members collecting donations outside Key Food and King Kullen on Merrick Road. Shoppers dropped off everything from a single can to entire carts of groceries.
“What I really want to mention is the generous spirit of everybody,” said Lauri Loquercio, of the chamber, who organized the drive. “It’s really just heartwarming in such difficult times that people, whether they give a can or there were people that came out with a cart full of stuff.”
The first day’s collection filled her car four times, Loquercio said, and all of it went to Blessed Sacrament Church’s food pantry. At King Kullen alone, chamber members collected more than 100 items in a single hour.
Donations came from shoppers of every age, she added, including older residents who may be on fixed incomes themselves.
“Even if they give a can, they want to give,” Loquercio said. “A lot of these people are probably struggling themselves. So that’s what makes it so beautiful to me.”
Organizers asked for specific items that local pantries need most. Loquercio, who also volunteers with the St. Vincent de Paul Society, said she uses that experience to fill gaps. Pantries often receive cake mix but no frosting, for example, so this year’s list asked for both. Shelf-stable milk was also on the list.
“Milk is so expensive now,” she said.
Donors brought stuffing, cranberry sauce, tomato sauce and paper products, along with other holiday staples.
The chamber spreads its donations across several local organizations so that each one gets a share. Items collected earlier from local schools were divided among House of Hope, Blessed Sacrament and Long Island Cares. Donations from the second day of the drive were headed to Holy Name of Mary’s St. Vincent de Paul Society. The chamber also donates turkeys to House of Hope each year.
“We want to make sure that we get all of the outreach programs in Valley Stream,” Loquercio said.
Lucy Viggiano, a chamber member who has helped with the drive before, said the stores have been an ideal place to collect.
“This is a very good spot,” she said. “Very generous.”
Fellow chamber member Angela Shirian was among those collecting outside King Kullen. So was Alicia Tritschler, 17, whose mother works for the chamber. Beyond the food drive, Tritschler stays involved through her school’s clubs and honor societies, including the art honor society, which she leads as president.
“I get a lot of service opportunities through that,” she said.
Local businesses pitched in too. Key Food provided lunch for its volunteers, and Cecilia Doro Pizza donated lunch to the volunteers at King Kullen. Minuteman Press donated all of the drive’s printed materials.
“They’re very supportive of everything we do,” Loquercio said..
