By Laura Lane
³I thought maybe I could do something like that, but didn¹t know how I¹d get the money to do it,² he said. ³Then a voice within me said, ŒDo it. I¹ll help you¹.²
That¹s when the first Peanut Butter Gang was born. The non-profit interfaith group, based out of St. Brigid¹s Roman Catholic Church in Westbury, is comprised of teenagers and adults and has grown to 20 members from East Meadow and Salisbury. The group feeds the hungry and homeless by making peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches.
³This is such a simple thing that anyone can do,² Dugan said. ³People get a sense of well being when they do it. It¹s different than throwing money into the church basket.²
The group meets at the church once a month, and makes at least 400 sandwiches. Vince Buzzeo, youth minister at St. Brigid¹s and a lifelong East Meadow resident, delivers the sandwiches to St. Anne¹s Catholic Church in Brentwood. In addition, sandwiches are delivered to soup kitchens in Long Island and Manhattan. In October alone, 10,000 peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches were delivered to homeless shelters.
Fifteen-year-old John Damato, an East Meadow volunteer, helped make 742 in November. He first got involved with the Peanut Butter Gang three years ago when he read about them in the church bulletin. Damato is especially concerned with helping homeless veterans.
³I was looking to help people out,² he said. ³I mostly do this for them, war heroes that don¹t have a home anymore, the ones who lost everything.²
According to Buzzeo, members of St. Brigid¹s pitch in to ensure the pantry is stocked with supplies. Volunteers bring in loafs of bread, and donations of peanut butter-and-jelly are brought in by family members of religious education students. Buzzeo has also devised a method of making the sandwiches that¹s efficient and fun for teens.
³Some kids make the sandwiches and others move them to another table to wrap and box them,² he said. ³Sometimes the kids form teams and one will spread the peanut butter, while the other spreads the jelly. Sometimes the kids have races.²
Marie Fraioli, a Salisbury resident, has volunteered with her daughter, Donna Marie, for years and believes volunteering is important for teenagers.
³I think it¹s good that we get the kids to do this when they¹re young,² she said. ³They tend to be more caring at this age, and I think it will make them want to help the community for the rest of their lives.²
Comments about this story? Llane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
