The Salvation Army East Stroudsburg, Corps. is honoring Dr. Rose Mattioli, for the Joseph & Ann Farda Community Service Award at its annual Harvest Festival and Auction at Stroudsmoor Country Inn on Thursday, October 6 starting at 5:30 pm at their Ridgecrest facility. Dinner tickets for the event are $60 per person. Major James Gingrich, spokesperson for The Salvation Army, said, “This event generates an important portion of our chapter’s special event fundraising for the year. The money we collect goes towards local programs and provides comprehensive assistance with meals, food baskets and shelter to thousands of County residents.”
Live and silent auction items for the event include vacations, restaurant certificates, hotel stays, collectibles, antiques, gift baskets, health club memberships, art, coins, golf foursomes, gift cards – to name just a few. Gingrich continues, “It is the mission of The Salvation Army of Monroe County to preserve human dignity while empowering people to reach their potential through honoring heritage, strengthening family values and meeting human needs. In these tough economic times, when thousands of neighbors are finding it hard to feed their families, the need for our services is under even greater pressure.”
Last year The Salvation Army East Stroudsburg Corps. provided 62,948 hot meals, 28,000 food baskets, and 5,950 nights of shelter to Monroe County Residents. The Toys for Joy, Toys for Tots and Angle Tree gift donations provided 16,671 Christmas items to children and ongoing, The Salvation Army feeds approximately 250 Monroe County families monthly. This year, the East Stroudsburg Corps is expected to provide more than 60,000 hot meals to hungry men, women and children in Monroe County and provide grants for rent, utility assistance, medicine and food for more than 10,000 families in desperate need.
Reservations for the Harvest Festival fundraiser can be made by calling 570-421-3050. The silent auction will begin at 5:30 pm with the live auction at 7:30 pm. A passed and seated, Hors D’oeuvres Reception, with carving station, will be served from 5:30 pm to 7:15 pm, followed by seated coffee and dessert and the award presentation to Dr. Rose. Gingrich concludes, “We are still accepting auction items and ads for our program and welcome the community to join us for a very good cause. We anticipate that as long as the economy is uncertain and people are out of work, our numbers will continue to be on the rise. By attending this event you will be helping us continue to service those in the most need in our community.”
About The Salvation Army in Monroe County
The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination for 130 years in the United States. Nearly 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children. 82 cents of every dollar spent is used to carry out those services in 5,000 communities nationwide. For more information, go to www.salvationarmyeaststroudsburg.org
