Community honors flood victim with food drive
BOYERTOWN >> As a community mourns the loss of 9-yearold Preston Dray, his mother, Pamela Snyder, and his unborn baby sister, Evelynn, in a July 11 flash flood, area residents are working to keep the young boy’s legacy alive.
In 2018, Preston Dray ran a food drive for the Boyertown Area Multi-Service as a school project. After learning about this, a small group of residents has decided the best way to honor the boy and his family is by holding a drive of their own.
“Basically last week, like many, we followed the reports and the next day I opened my phone and there was a picture of Preston. It was a Facebook post sharing his project from May of 2018. I just said I had to do this and I had to continue it,” said Daphne Benfield, who said she did not know the family personally but was moved by the story. “I put a Facebook post out for help and lots of people reached out.”
Benfield is working with a group of volunteers to run the first-ever Preston Dray Memorial Food Drive. Like Preston’s original project, the food goes to the Boyertown Area Multi-Service.
“We just want to do a really good job supporting the committee and memorializing Preston, Pam and baby Evelynn. We’re honored to be able to support the community and the committee,” said Lydia Messinger with the Boyertown Area Multi-Service.
Benfield said the drive has already begun picking up speed and they hope to have all the boxes out and ready for donations by Sunday.
“It’s amazing. We have 120 locations already. A lot of people have just started responding and saying they want to put a box in and some have been printing their own flyers. Others are collecting on their own in their neighborhoods. Some of the boxes are full and have already been emptied. Every day someone is dropping stuff off so it’s amazing,” said Benfield.
The following items can be donated to the drive:
• Laundry detergent
• Bars of unscented soap • Ladies deodorant • Tampons • Kids’ body wash • Conditioner (shampoo not needed)
• Disposable bowls and plasticware • Pet food • Microwavable meals • Brownies/cake mix • Kids’ snacks • Baked beans • Canned ham • Pasta • Spaghetti sauce • Canned potatoes • Packages of instant oatmeal • Macaroni and cheese • Pancake mix • 64 oz shelf stable juice • Cases of water • Coffee • Freezer meats and meals • Cleaning supplies A Google map of all locations accepting donations can be found by visiting the project’s Facebook page (1st Annual Preston Dray Memorial Food Drive).
Donations will be delivered to the Boyertown Multi-Service on Aug. 18. On that day, the group will host a sorting and organizing party in the Boyertown Multi-Service parking lot, 200 Spring St, Boyertown, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is expected to include music and food trucks as volunteers work to organize the donations.
The group has even encouraged those who don’t live in the area to make a donation. Anyone who wants to donate in Preston’s memory can bring their items to their own local food pantry and post on social media using #PrestonsPantry. A Facebook frame for the cause is also available to use by searching “Brandon Foose,” the frame’s creator, in the frames section for editing profile pictures.
“I’ve never done any kind of community outreach before. I saw his face and thought he needs to live on through this. We are going to try to do it at least once a year and hopefully want to do it on his birthday or the day he dropped his donations off last year,” said Benfield. “I want to thank everybody for hosting a box, dropping things off and spreading the word. And of course all the people behind the scenes.”