Seeking Veterans in Need for Caring Patriots’
Holiday Food Assistance Program

Caring Patriots is currently accepting requests from veterans in
need of food assistance for the holidays and is looking to expand
its reach to local veterans who have not yet been recipients.

Now in its 12″ year, Caring Patriots has provided nearly 10,000
veterans with much needed food for the holiday season. The
non-profit is made up entirely of volunteers, with 100% of all
money raised going directly to its annual veterans’ holiday food
drive.

In past years, Caring Patriots collaborated with businesses,
clubs, schools, churches, and other organizations to collect non-
perishable food items. These were combined with fresh foods to
provide grocery carts, or “baskets”, full of groceries to veterans
and their families. Over 1,000 volunteers worked to sort, pack,
and distribute the baskets each November, and collected
donations around the city in the weeks before that.

Because of safety precautions during the current pandemic,
Caring Patriots’ processes this year will by necessity be
different, but still in keeping with its mission. Rather than
baskets, veteran recipients this year will receive shopping
experiences at designated Jewel Food Stores so that they can do
their own shopping and pick out the items that they need.
Volunteers will assist with the shopping for those recipients who
are unable to do so themselves.

Veterans who are currently in need of assistance are encouraged
to privately submit a request via email to
info@caringpatriots.org or through the organization’s website at
www.caringpatriots.org. Requests must be received by October
15, 2020. Veterans who are approved to receive assistance will
then be notified of the date, time window, and store location for
their shopping experiences.

To Mike Cozzi, founder and president of Caring Patriots NFP,
Inc., and the vast number of volunteers that make Caring
Patriots possible, it’s about saying thank you to those who have
served. “There are veterans that have served in past and current
conflicts that do not have the same luxury or opportunity, that do
not have the same means to provide right now, that I do,” Mike
Cozzi said. “We’re here to show our support and our gratitude.”