Don't forget to bring some non-perishable food item's to donate during the 2017 St. Patrick's Day Parade

This is the 9th year that the Utica St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee is conducting a food drive, called “Remembering the Irish Hunger,” as a way of giving back to the community, and in remembrance of one of the most horrific and defining periods in Irish history.

Bring your non-perishable food items to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 11, and fill up those wheelbarrows and green money boxes. All donations will be given to Mother Marianne’s West Side Kitchen at the St. Joseph-St. Patrick Parish Center.

The Great American Irish Festival claims Mother Marianne’s West Side Kitchen is named for Blessed Mother Marianne Cope, who grew up in West Utica and went on to devote the last 30 years of her life to the lepers of Hawaii’s Molokai. 'This program also has a unique tie to the local Irish community: It is located across the street from the future Irish Cultural Center of the Mohawk Valley; the site of the original St. Patrick’s Church, which was built by a burgeoning Irish population who had come to America to escape the Great Hunger in the 1850s.'

Let's make this year's drive the most successful yet. Start collecting your non-perishable food items and on Parade day, fill up the wheelbarrows and green money boxes, before or during the parade.


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