PI-ONEERS TEAMSET FORFOOD PANTRY LOVE

Students, Hillsdale ShopRite partner on Third Annual Valentineʼs Day Food Drive

BY JOHNSNYDER OF PASCACK PRESS

The kids — Jenna, aged 4 years; Tyler, 16 months; and Kylie, 11 weeks — were with daycare and family.

The two-alarm blaze ravaged their split-level home — which theyʼd been living in for only a few months — and took everything the young couple had and had planned to pass on. It briefly hospitalized three Park Ridge firefighters.

Mutual aid responders came from Hillsdale, Montvale, River Vale, and Woodcliff Lake.

Well-wishers immediately wanted to know what they could do to help the stricken family. Relief snapped into action digitally and physically. (See “Gratitude as fire relief wells up,” Pascack Press, Nov. 21, 2022.)

Itʼs in that sense the fire gave the Pattersons something they might have suspected but likely never would have been able to fully appreciate otherwise: the Pascack Valley comes through for its own. Following an outpouring of love and support — which continues, as the family rides out the insurance and demolition phase in a rented house in Oradell — Lisa reached out to Pascack Press last week to see if they could have space somewhere in the paper to share a message of thanks.

Park Ridge residents Lisa and Matt Patterson,and their kids Jenna,Tyler, and Kylie,are waiting to rebuild their house at 12 Henry Ave.following a devastating house fire Nov.9.2022.They write in to express their gratitude for an amazing outpouring of love and support.

A Happy 100th

We are honored to provide just that: From the Patterson family “to the Pascack Valley community…”

“WE HAD JUST moved to the area in June 2022 and had not gotten a chance to enjoy the town or get to know many people. This fire, although devastating, has allowed us to meet so many won-

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For a third year, your driven, problem-solving Pascack Pi-oneers are gathering donated food items to the Tri-Boro Food Pantry in Park Ridge and Helping Hand Food Pantry in Hillsdale, hoping youʼll give from the heart.

Thatʼs appropriate for a Valentineʼs Day drive, which runs Feb. 1–13. Needed are your kind donations of canned/non-perishable food, and personal care and baby care items.

Pascack Pi-oneers FIRST Robotics Team 1676 co-CEO Treshan Nilaweera told Pascack Press on Jan. 24, “Our team is committed to helping those in our community who are experiencing food insecurity. We, as a team, created the Valentineʼs Day Food Drive to support local pantries and inspire food donations throughout the winter ”

The team made two food donation bins in partnership with ShopRite of Hillsdale to provide receptacles for generous customers. Team members pick up

See LOVE on page 22