CHICOPEE, Mass. — The Knights of Columbus has had to cancel a lot of their fundraising events due to the pandemic. They say despite the obstacles created by the pandemic, they are not giving up and are still finding ways to give back to the community.
Steven Dubreuil is a Deputy Grand Knight at 4044, Knights of Columbus. He said they want the community to know they are still here.
"People see our empty parking lot here and are wondering if we are open, we are still open," he said. "We are hoping once the pandemic is done, we can have events and people can schedule events and things like that."
At the Castle of the Knights, they usually have events like bingo or spaghetti dinners to help them raise money, but the pandemic has put those events on hold.
"We were having some meetings via Zoom and we decided we wanted to do something, we needed to keep up with our volunteerism we do," said Steven Dubreuil.
They came up with the idea of a drive-through food drive. They will be collecting nonperishable food items and monetary donations that will be distributed to food pantries and soup kitchens in the community.
Because some kids might not get to see Santa this year, he is planning to make the trip from out of state to be at the food drive.
"I know Massachusetts has some rules with people coming from out of town, even though I feel very safe at the North Pole with Mrs. Claus, the reindeer and the elves, I am going to do what I am supposed to do and get a COVID-19 test and register with the Department of Health in Massachusetts," said Tom Dubreuil, Steven's brother.
For the food drive, people won't even have to get out of their cars to donate nonperishable food items. Extra precautions will be taken and Santa and his helpers will also have some giveaways at the event, too.
"People need to do nice things, people need to help each other out, people need to lend a hand where they can with so many people being out of work, with so many people with food insecurities," said Tom Dubreuil.
They are hoping this fundraiser will be able to help a lot of families, just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Steven Dubreuil said, "If this goes well, we are hoping to make this a monthly or quarterly event."
The food drive will take place Saturday, October 10 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Cars can drive right up the building and wrap around as directed. The Castle of Knights is located at 1599 Memorial Drive.