Trailer Filled With Food For Romero House

Saint John residents have once again come together to help support the Romero House Soup Kitchen.

A 53-foot trailer was filled during Ritchie’s annual Christmas Food Drive, which wrapped up Saturday.

Evelyn McNulty, executive director of Romero House, said this is their main food drive of the year.

“There’s other little food drives which happen all throughout the year that augments this food drive, but this essentially gives us a little bit of security that we’ll be able to keep the bowls full for a while,” said McNulty.

McNulty said people dropped off vegetables, meat and non-perishable food items during the 10-day food drive.

She said the food they collected is tremendously needed, adding they do not receive any government support.

“Last year, we served 82,339 meals out of the building, and I’m anticipating once the end of December comes, we will be right around 84,000 or 85,000 [this year], so things are definitely not better,” said McNulty.

Ritchie’s annual Christmas Food Drive for the Romero House Soup Kitchen has wrapped up for another year. Executive director Evelyn McNulty says this is their main food drive of the year. They expect to serve ~85,000 meals by the end of the year. #SaintJohn pic.twitter.com/n0JZFGvKRj

— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) December 7, 2019

During the first food drive 14 years ago, McNulty said Romero House served about 50,000 meals a year.

Daryl Ritchie, the owner of Ritchie’s, said they are happy to be involved in the food drive year after year.

“There’s a need and the need hasn’t gone away and it’s not going away,” said Ritchie.

“If you can do a little bit to help, we’re just happy to do it.”

McNulty said they are always looking for donations from the community. Located at 647 Brunswick Drive, they are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the week and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekends and holidays.