By Carol Fisher Linn
Imagine a windfall of 70-90 cases of food and pantry items and anywhere from $3,000 and up (it’s been at $5,000!) being delivered at one time to the Ellicottville Food Pantry at the United Church of Ellicottville. As reported by Ansley Kelly who generously co-chairs the event every year with Rebecca Mansell, this amount of money and food has regularly been collected by the Holiday Valley Ski Patrol during the Mardi Gras Parade. Fortunately for the Food Pantry, the Ski Patrol has faithfully been on duty since almost the very first parade in 1992.
Just stop a moment and give that some thought. The Mardi Gras parade appears to be a playful end-of-winter event to give celebrators another fun thing to participate in. Yet, if one looks more closely, it is so much more than that and it’s all because merry marchers/floaters and observers do participate. Everyone one of you is an important part of the event. Frankly, the Holiday Valley food drive is one very good reason to show up and donate, either during the parade or at Tops in Ellicottville. Tops, as it does every year, has generously allowed the Ski Patrol to set up a table outside by the door on Friday and Saturday afternoons before the parade. The ability to share from your own abundance for others who don’t have enough is truly a gift that we sometimes take for granted. With eggs over $7 a dozen and canned yellow beans at $2.79 a can, those of us who have been granted much may feel the urge to share some of that abundance. Hey, why not stick a can of beans or a package of beans in your coat pocket and drop it into their carts as they walk by? Surely, you don’t have to be reminded that people with limited resources are having a tough time, today more than ever.
jackets with white crosses on the back who will be wheeling
grocery carts along the parade route to collect from generous
spectators. Cash is always welcome or come prepared
and bring a check may be made out to The United Church of
Ellicottville (be sure to mark “Food Pantry” on the note line).
Several years ago, a group of out-of-town businessmen generously gathered their mutual resources and literally filled to the brim a cart of groceries to donate. Wouldn’t it be fun to consider this a challenge to more groups to have a competition to see who can donate more by seeing whose cart is fullest? In the month of January alone, The Ellicottville Food Pantry provided food and pantry needs to 75 households (170 individuals) and served 1530 meals. In speaking to Val, the woman who hates the spotlight but faithfully has run the pantry for many years, she said these are the average numbers for every month over the course of a year. You do the math.
Over and over our village guests show us their generosity and their love of all-things-Ellicottville. In return, we are grateful for those who call Ellicottville their home-away-from-home or their favorite place to visit. We truly have a wonderful, long-established symbiotic relationship.
It is no secret that the Mardi Gras parade benefits the businesses in the village. In fact, as the person who started the parade, (yes, that’s me) that was one of the reasons for the event. You see, Arlene Solly wanted to have a grand opening of her store, Kazoo II. I was helping her and needed to find a way to get skiers off the hills and into town. Of course, isn’t the solution for most dilemmas a full-fledged winter, night-time parade on a state highway? It’s a result of those famous last words, “Hey, why don’t we?” A story for another time.
Several years into the parade, along came HV Patroller, Bob Barbu (now retired). Bob Barbu recognized the need and started the annual event involving the Holiday Valley Ski Patrollers. It turned out to be a win-win. Food for the needy and active involvement in the community, which the Patrollers always like to do when they are not saving skiers from disaster on the hills.
As they have every year, Ski Patrollers will be collecting non-perishables, canned goods, allergy friendly/gluten-free foods, toiletries, and paper goods. Diapers and personal care items are always high on the list. Cash/checks can be donated on Fri-day, March 7th in front of Tops Markets during the hours of 5-9pm, on Saturday, March 8th again at Tops from 10am-6pm and finally, during the Mardi Gras parade itself. Look for the twenty to thirty Ski Patrol volunteers in their red jackets with white crosses on the back who will be wheeling grocery carts along the parade route to collect from generous spectators. Cash is always welcome or come prepared and bring a check may be made out to The United Church of Ellicottville (be sure to mark “Food Pantry” on the note line).