Rivier University donates hundreds of Thanksgiving meals for local families
Rivier University hosts its annual Sharing the Feast Project to provide Thanksgiving meals to Greater Nashua residents in need.
View the Sharing the Feast photo album.
Rivier University’s annual Sharing the Feast Project distributed 455 Thanksgiving bags and gift cards to local non-profit agencies, as well as dozens of crates of non-perishable food to area food banks. These donations are expected to feed thousands of Greater Nashua residents in need this holiday season. The project was led by Rivier’s Campus Ministry Club with strong support from Raiders athletic teams.
In the month preceding the November 23 event, members of Rivier University and the local community raised $9,165 in donations. Keeping with tradition, an interfaith Thanksgiving Prayer Service was held to give thanks and bless the food, volunteers, recipients, and community. The donations were distributed to area agencies representatives after the service.
“By our gathering today, Rivier students, faculty, staff, and our community partners provide a powerful witness of direct service to our neighbors in need, especially in these days of food insecurity. Each of you is a reminder, in this month in which we reflect on the mission of Blessed Anne Marie Rivier and the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary, that faith and goodness find a natural extension in service.”
Sunset Heights Elementary School celebrated its 32nd year participating in this community fundraising event. Student representatives from grades one through five attended the service and shared a community meal with Rivier staff after the event.
“Sharing the Feast is a Rivier tradition made possible through the generous outpouring of time, talent, and treasure from the entire community,” says Anna 
Molettieri, Director of Campus Ministry. “The project directly engages students in the dialogue about basic human issues facing society, especially the plight of the poor, and how they can make a difference in the world.”
Fourteen Greater Nashua-area agencies attended the service, after which Rivier student-athletes transported and loaded the food donations into their waiting vehicles. Partner agencies for 2021 include Family Promise of Southern NH, Corpus Christi Food Pantry, Ascentria Care Alliance, Greater Nashua Mental Health Center at Community Council, Healthy at Home, Keystone Hall, Nashua Oncology and Hematology, Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter, New Hampshire Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army, HIV/AIDS Task Force, Title One, New Fellowship Baptist Church Community Outreach Resource & Education Center Nashua, and Xavier House.