Siblings Collect Thousands Of Pounds Of Food For Community

BABYLON, NY — Three Babylon siblings have been doing their part for the community by raising thousands of pounds of food for those in need. Since March, 12-year-old Kate Garvey, 10-year-old Eloise Garvey and 10-year-old Samuel Garvey have been collecting food at their home to donate to two local churches, who then distribute the food to people in need.

The children's mother, Bethney Ruggiero, said the trio got the idea for the food drive earlier on in the pandemic, after the lockdown began and the stay-at-home order started. They became concerned after hearing on the news that people were losing their jobs and food wasn't on the shelves.

"They were very, very upset by the news and they felt like they wanted to try to do something to help the community," Ruggiero told Patch. "The kids were thinking of how they could help, and they decided they wanted to try to do a food drive."

The trio became especially worried that the coronavirus meant that their local church, St. Joseph's Parish, wouldn't be able to do their annual "40 cans for lent" food drive. They started off spreading the word across their community and local residents began leaving food at their home. Before they knew it, the Garvey siblings began to have a steady donation rate of 50 to 100 pounds of food per day, sometimes more.

"When we hit the first 2,000 pounds, one ton, it was like Christmas day they couldn't believe they had actually hit one ton of food and they were so excited," Ruggiero said. "But the food kept coming and it keeps coming today."

On May 4, they received a total of up to 4,000 pounds and then by June 19, which was Kate's birthday, they were at 8,000 pounds of food. The family decided to host a special birthday parade to try to reach 8,000 pounds, but had already reached their goal before the event began.

"The community has been absolutely incredible in their support of this. Some people drop off food every week, people come from different towns to drop food off, it's really been quite amazing to witness," Ruggiero said.

In addition to donating to St. Joseph's, the siblings also bring some donations to the Presbyterian church in Babylon Village. Now as of July, the Garvey siblings have donated a total of 9,700 pounds of food. They might possibly have another celebration once they reach 10,000 pounds and so far, don't have any plans to stop anytime soon.

"It's really so gratifying to see the success that they have but it's also so gratifying to see that they learned the lessons of being in service and it took focus on what we don't have — they weren't able to go to school or play sports or see their friends — and it's really turned their mindset around into 'how can we help' and how good it feels to help," Ruggiero said.

While several local members have praised the three children as local heroes, Ruggiero believes the really hero is the community members who have been donating.

"It's always good to be of service to a community and especially right now when there's so many people in need and when you're able to serve it's a great privilege and it's our responsibility to give back," she said. "It's really wonderful to see that the kids have really grasped this concept and they're enjoying their community service."

For those interested in donating, contact: bethneyr@hotmail.com.