Feed My People Annual Trivia Night Draws Hundreds

Over an hour before the event, the parking lot at St. Margaret Mary’s Parish Hall was filling up quickly. The trivia night and silent auction is one of the local charity’s most successful fundraisers and a popular neighborhood event. A fun way to contribute to a good cause, the event sold out before the doors even opened. Advanced ticket sales had assured that there would be a large crowd in attendance.

The St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Parish Hall, centrally located in the community, was just the right size to accommodate the 40 tables that each seated eight participants. Volunteers from Feed My People worked at the event while others purchased tickets and participated in the contest and auction. Most in attendance were there to support the cause. Many brought canned goods to donate to the food bank. There was a special raffle held for the food donors and each can donated was worth a ticket in the drawing. A Feed My People truck was on the parking lot quickly filling up with cans of food.

In addition to bringing canned goods to donate, each table provided their own snacks and food for the evening. Some tables appeared to be themed by cuisine. Elaborate spreads of Mexican treats, fresh fruits and vegetables, Italian specialties and traditional American snacks were sighted. Cupcakes were a popular dessert.

Volunteer Pat O’Donnell was the quizmaster of ceremonies. In addition to delivering the 10 categories coming in rounds of 10 questions each, he had personally written all of the questions for the evening’s challenge. After each round, table runners gathered up the answer sheets from each table and took them to the eight judges for scoring.

“My wife works for Feed My People,” O’Donnell said as he readied himself before the night's festivities. “They do marvelous work. I always volunteer for the trivia contest and for the adopt-a-family program at Christmas.”

Bill and Antoinette McFarland were there primarily to support the mission of Feed My People.

“We call our team ‘The Usual Suspects.’ It’s great to contribute to such a good cause and have fun doing it,” McFarland said.

Bright orange tote bags filled with goodies were at each seat. Notepaper, Pasta House gift certificates and information about Feed My People was included, as well as a donation envelope.

The Feed My People trivia night was concurrent with the Lenten fish fry at the St. Margaret Mary Alacoque cafeteria, so many trivia contestants had dined at the church before the event.

Before the questions began, Co-Executive Director of Feed My People, John DeGuire, was busily directing cars on the crowded parking lot while his wife, Carol DeGuire, and daughter, Robyn Ackerman, worked at the registration table. The line filled the lobby and continued out the front door. Even with the large crowd, everyone checked in and found their tables with time to spare before the event was underway.

“We are always looking at new ways to get the community involved and our annual trivia night and silent auction has always proved to be one of our most successful and highly anticipated events,” DeGuire said.