Food for Tots has fantastic finale

Nov 16, 2018

On National Philanthropy Day, 31 Southcoast restaurants, including five tri-town restaurants, donated 15 percent of their profits for the day to Southcoast Pediatrics to finish the Food for Tots fundraiser.

While restaurants were busy cooking and residents were busy ordering food for a good cause, Jill Fearons, a Mattapoisett mother who organized the fundraiser, was busy visiting all of the locations. It took her nine hours.

It’s too early to tell whether she reached the fundraiser’s $100,000 goal.  Though she estimates the earnings jumped from around $63,000 to $75,000 after Nov. 15, that total will continue to increase, as about half of the restaurants have yet to get Fearons the amount of their final contribution.

“Our goal is to open St. Luke’s, the only Southcoast inpatient program, for 24 hours a day. Right now it is only open from 11 a.m. to midnight,” Fearons said, adding that, “With the fundraising, everything we raise goes directly to the program.”

The Inn on Ship Yard Park, Nick’s Pizza and Turk’s Seafood contributed in Mattapoisett, as did Atlantic Bistro and Brew Fish in Marion. On The Go has also donated 15 percent of profits every Tuesday since the fundraiser began in April, and Yard Boss pledged to match $5,000 in donations.   

Fearons plans to present the final check for the fundraiser to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford on Dec. 5. She hopes that all of the restaurant owners will be there with her.