Visitors to the Elliott Museum can make the holidays brighter for themselves as well as Martin County neighbors in need thanks to a food drive the museum is conducting for the House of Hope food pantry.

The Elliott will be collecting food for House of Hope throughout the holiday season. People can bring non-perishable food items to the museum from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays or from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.

In addition, the museum will provide a special treat during its Holiday Open House, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14. Admission is free, but people who bring a non-perishable food item will receive a 5 percent discount on purchases in the museum’s gift shop.

House of Hope is appreciative of this and so many other food drives being conducted throughout Martin County. This year, House of Hope will distribute food that creates meals for nearly 20,000 people, including about 6,600 children.

If you, your community, civic group, business or other organization would like to conduct a food drive or otherwise help House of Hope, please call (772) 286-4673. (more…)

For those people shopping for Christmas trees after Thanksgiving, the St. Lucie County Extension Office would like to share a few simple procedures to help make the selection of the perfect Christmas tree a little easier.

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For the next two weeks, students at Fort Pierce Central High School will be collecting items for care packages to send to U.S. military troops overseas.

What they’re looking for: hygiene products, t-shirts, socks and non-perishable items.

Working together on the project are students participating in the Corps, HOSA, Student Government and the Criminal Justice program, according to a news release from the Fort Pierce police department.

People can drop off donations up to Dec. 5 at the following locations in Fort Pierce:

Fort Pierce Central High School, 1101 Edwards Road

Fort Pierce Police Department, 920 S. U.S. 1

International Long Shore main office, 503 North 7th Street

PORT ST. LUCIE — A local doctor is making sure there’ll be plenty of turkey at the 19th annual Thanksgiving Day Community Feast.

Dr. Shamsher Singh, a dermatologist with a practice near the St. Lucie Medical Center, has agreed to buy the remaining 147 birds of the 700 turkeys needed for the event, which is expected to feed about 2,000 people at the feast site — Orange Avenue and Ninth Street in downtown Fort Pierce — and about 6,000 more with meals delivered throughout St. Lucie County.

Stacy Malinowski, program director for Fort Pierce-based Mustard Seed Ministries, the lead organization for the feast, said the 147 turkeys will cost about $1,500. (more…)