A boy's wish grows as donations flow to Amos House, Food Bank

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 12/18/18

By JOHN HOWELL A boy's wish to help others keeps growing every year, with more and more people being helped out. It all started when Noah Grebstein of Cranston and his mother, Mindy Mosca, got lost on their way to visit Noah's grandmother, who was a

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

A boy's wish grows as donations flow to Amos House, Food Bank

Posted

A boy’s wish to help others keeps growing every year, with more and more people being helped out.

It all started when Noah Grebstein of Cranston and his mother, Mindy Mosca, got lost on their way to visit Noah’s grandmother, who was a patient at Rhode Island Hospital. They ended up passing Amos House, where Noah spotted a number of people waiting in line outside. He could see they were cold. He was six at the time.

Mindy remembers Noah asking what the people were doing and her telling him they were probably homeless and waiting to be fed.

‘Mommy, what do you mean?’ she recalls him asking.

At that point, Mindy realized her son’s innocence and found herself questioning what she should say. She spelled out the situation and Noah asked what they could do to help.

“We’ve got to feed them,” she remembers him saying and her answer, “We don’t have money to feed everyone.”

Thus began a campaign to collect food and coats that has grown each year.

The first year Noah placed collection boxes in front of their home and distributed fliers to neighbors informing them of the collection effort. That first drive was such a success that Mindy and Noah knew they needed a bigger venue. Mindy appealed to her boss, Ronald Baccala at Toni and Guy, and he readily agreed to turn over the salon at Marshall’s Plaza on Route 5 for the Noah’s Wish fundraiser.

Held Sunday, the fourth annual Noah’s Wish fundraiser brought in an estimated 300 people, many of who brought coats and non-perishable food donations and then stayed to visit 13 vendors where they could buy gifts.

Mindy arranged for the vendors, asking them for a $20 contribution and a raffle item in return for attending the party. In addition, Noah solicited donations from area businesses with Garden Hills Deli and Tommy’s Pizza coming through in a big way. When the drive came to a close Sunday evening, Noah’s goal of collecting 300 coats and raising $2,000 had been surpassed. A pickup truck full of food was collected, $3,200 was raised and 320 coats were donated. Mindy said the money would be split between Amos House and the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. The food will go to the Food Bank and the coats to Amos House.

But the event was more than strictly a fundraiser. It was a gathering of family and community.

Mindy’s husband, Paul Iannotti, was Santa and Noah’s father, Michael Grebstein, helped pull everything together with the added help of Mindy’s nieces, Alexia and Victoria Mosca.

“I’m seeing people I haven’t seen since high school,” Mindy said with delight.

Many teachers from Immaculate Conception, where Noah is a student, attended, along with parents of his friends and members of the hockey team.

Dressed in an elf-green outfit, Noah weaved in between the crowd, occasionally checking on growing mounds of donated food and coats.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here