OSWEGO – Although The Salvation Army Guest Chef Dinners for this year were preempted by the coronavirus, the Corps officers and Advisory Board members offer their sincere gratitude to the restaurateurs and others who stood ready to make their usual generous contributions.
Recent contributors included American Foundry, Canale’s Restaurant, Lions Club of Oswego, Press Box, Rudy’s Lakeside Drive-in, Springside Senior Independent Living Community, and Zonta Club of Oswego. They have supported the work of The Salvation Army in our community for many years and now they, too, are struggling to cope with challenges none could have foreseen a year ago. They have made countless contributions over the years to causes, projects, and organizations of our area and now would be a good time to thank them and reciprocate.
Tom Brown, chairman of the Advisory Board of the Oswego County Corps, said at a recent Zoom meeting of the board, “We urge all the people of the area who can do so to favor these local restaurants for dine-in or take-out services as an expression of gratitude for all they have done over the years to support the people of Oswego County.”
Sunday worship services at the Oswego County Corps and most of the usual fundraisers have been canceled by the virus — guest chef dinners, Harbor Fest parking, chicken barbeque, golf tournament — but soup kitchen and food pantry services have carried on unabated along with special food and milk distributions all under the leadership of Captain Heather Odom and Lieutenant Alberta Rakestraw. It is hoped that more services and activities can return to the building in a few weeks. Take-out meals are distributed in both Fulton and Oswego, Monday through Friday. The Food Sense service of the Food Bank is expected to resume in October.
In July, the Corps provided 1,168 soup kitchen take-out meals in Oswego and 914 in Fulton. It provided 474 Oswego households with groceries for 4,266 meals and 385 Fulton households with groceries for 3,465 meals. It also distributed over 950 loaves of bread and pastries.
In the absence of fundraisers this year, direct mail and online contributions are especially important. Credit card contributions may be made by going to empire.salvationarmy.org and clicking the Make A Gift button. Gifts by check may be mailed to Oswego County Salvation Army, PO Box 146, Oswego, NY 13126. All gifts will be credited to the Oswego County Corps. It is not yet known how the coronavirus will affect the familiar Salvation Army Christmas kettles this year.
The officers and Advisory Board members extend their genuine thanks to all the people of the area who have attended our Guest Chef Dinners in the past. We look forward to the time when we can gather around our tables again.
missing or outdated ad config