Community with ‘a heart’

The Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library held their annual February Have a Heart food drive, now in its 14th year.

Food collected will go to St. Jude Church in Mastic Beach and the Mastics & Shirley Emergency Food Center Foundation. The drive is held each year during the month of February because that’s when food donations are urgently needed by local pantries, according to Liz Horbal, a library staff member and the food drive’s coordinator.

“People are more apt to donate during the holidays, so after the holidays, food banks are really in need,” she said.

Horbal said the drive was originally done for two weeks in February, but the library amped up efforts in recent years and now collects during the entire month, which gives library patrons more of an opportunity to bring their nonperishable goods. Horbal said the drive is important because it makes a true impact on the local community.

“I believe that most people think that to make an impact, it needs to be grand, when it is the small acts that create ripples that lead to great change,” she said.