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Amelia Park Arena Holds Second Annual “Canned Food Drive to Shutout Hunger”

By Billy Fellows

2/21/2025

From February 9th-16th, Amelia Park Arena held a “Canned Food Drive to Shutout Hunger”. The

food drive was first launched in 2024 as part of Amelia Park’s Community Give Back Initiative.

The drive includes a unique aspect, as the rink’s backup Zamboni is brought into the lobby for a

whole week, with the goal of filling it to the brim with non-perishable items for the Westfield

Soup Kitchen.

Members of the hockey community came together for a second straight year to ensure the

drive would be a successful one. Large donations from Amelia Park’s core programs helped fuel

the mission. Westfield High School, Westfield State, Southwick, and Pope Francis Girls, all made

significant contributions. Donations from Westfield Youth Hockey, Men’s League Teams and

loyal patrons also came flowing in.

First year Westfield High School Hockey Head Coach Dominic Puntillo made sure his players

bought in to the food drive. “I thought it was really important to make sure our players got

involved in this. We are blessed to have an awesome facility like Amelia Park in town and it’s

great to see the organization giving back to the community”. Said Puntillo. “This food drive was

a great opportunity to teach our young players a valuable lesson on getting involved and

helping others.”

Thanks to Coach Puntillo and all other programs involved, the end result of the drive was over

40 full bags of food dropped off to the Soup Kitchen. That makes over 90 bags of food donated

from the drive the past two seasons. Amelia Park Arena General Manager Billy Fellows is

looking to build off the momentum from the 2024 Community Give Back Initiative “Last year

was awesome, we found multiple ways to give back to the community that has so graciously

supported us for many years. As a non-profit organization, we can’t survive without our

community’s support. So, our goal is to continue to find ways to return the favor and help our

great town thrive any way we can.” Said Fellows.

President of the Westfield Soup Kitchen Board of Directors, Katie Chicorka, was once again

taken back by the drive’s results, “We are so grateful for Amelia Park and the generous goods

donation from this fundraiser. It will fuel meals through the remaining winter months and help

ensure we can continue feeding our community in Westfield.” Chicorka said that there are

other ways for the community to get involved and help the soup kitchen, “For folks looking to

donate in additional ways, we are currently filling new Board of Directors positions and are in

need of individuals or groups that are willing to volunteer in the kitchen.” For more information

Photos of our four core teams who were pivotal in the success of our food drive.