Taste of Matlacha benefits food pantry

On Sunday, Nov. 7, 10 volunteers from the Pine Island Food Pantry stepped forward to serve food at the Taste of Matlacha, at the Matlacha Park. This has become a yearly event for the volunteers of the food pantry, as the Matlacha Civic Association has donated proceeds from the event to the Pine Island Food Pantry, each year.

Businesses from Matlacha donated the food, which was offered for sale at the Taste of Matlacha. It was a beautiful Sunday and a great crowd enjoyed music and food in the park. The businesses that donated were:

Bert’s Bar and Grill - Hamburgers

Miceli’s Restaurant - Pasta salad

Moretti’s Seafood Restaurant - Chowder

Olde Fish House Restaurant - Mullet spread

Perfect Cup - Chicken salad on a croissant

Sandy Hook Fish and Rib House - Key lime pie

The pantry volunteers were; Lucy and Greg Lambrect, Christine and Malte Sallstrom, Sal Anastasio, Pete Herber, Bill Jacobs, Ellen Wolf and Buzz and Barbara La Plante.

This affair was followed by the Matlacha Bliss, also at Matlacha Park, a day for the children of the island to come and join in the fun of crafts, face painting, singers and dancers and the start of the Christmas Holidays with the arrival of Santa Claus to Matlacha. This year it was on Saturday, Dec. 4, and at that time, the Matlacha Civic gave a check to the Pine Island Food Pantry in the amount of $1,600.

This donation is especially welcome at this blessed time of the year, when we try to bring the beauty of Christmas, to so many families. The donation will help the Food Pantry through the Christmas food distribution, which we provide to the Basket Brigade. We will be purchasing a gift certificate for each family who have applied to the Basket Brigade and a bag of food to go along with the certificate to complete a Christmas meal.