DO SOMETHING THIS WEEK · TOWN OF BABYLON

Food drives have a timing problem. The appeals arrive in late November, the shelves fill in December, and February is quiet and empty.

This one runs in October, which is part of why it works.

Councilman Anthony Manetta’s ninth annual Pasta & Sauce Drive is collecting now and closes Friday, October 23. Everything goes to the Town of Babylon Food Pantry.

Manetta started it, and it has been co-sponsored since the early years by Town Clerk Gerry Compitello and the Sons of Italy Constantino Brumidi Lodge in Deer Park. In its second year the drive brought in more than 200 pounds of pasta and 85 jars of sauce, according to Greater Long Island. This is year nine.

There are three places to drop off:

The Sons of Italy Constantino Brumidi Lodge, Deer Park.

Babylon Town Hall, 200 E. Sunrise Highway, North Lindenhurst.

Lindenhurst Memorial Library, 1 Lee Avenue, Lindenhurst.

The ask is narrow on purpose, and that is the useful thing about it. Pasta and jarred sauce are shelf-stable for a year, they need nothing but a pot of water, and they stretch — a box and a jar is dinner for a family, not a side dish for one. A pantry can plan around them in a way it cannot plan around whatever was in the back of your cabinet.

Which is to say: one box of ziti and one jar of sauce is not a token donation. It is the donation.

If you are shopping anyway this week, the arithmetic is about four dollars and a two-minute detour. If you are the kind of household that buys in bulk, a case of either is the easiest large gift anyone will ask you for all autumn.

Also at Town Hall this month: the Town’s National Red Ribbon Week kickoff is set for Friday, October 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Board Room in Lindenhurst, with vendors, resources and activities on substance-misuse awareness. It is open to the public, and it is free.

Source: Town of Babylon announcements