Goya Gives Back: Wonder Girls Distribute Donated Food

Goya Foods and People to People have teamed up with the Wonder Girls, a group of local high schoolers dedicated to helping their community, to feed hungry families across Rockland. 

The massive grocery conglomerate has donated more than 4,000 pounds of food products as part of its “Goya Gives” initiative and in celebration of the company’s 85th anniversary.

On Thursday, Rafael Toro, Director of Public Relations of Goya joined the girls, as they assembled the packages full of Goya products to be distributed to Rockland families in need. 

“There’s nothing more that you can give than of yourself,” said Toro. “I admire everything that you do, and please keep it up.”

Natalie Maniscalco, co-founder of Wonder Girls, said social responsibility and “doing good for your community” is vital to the mission of the organization.

“I just want to thank all the girls for coming, for taking the time out of your afternoon,” said Maniscalco. “We really appreciate you all being here. You should be very proud of yourself for taking action.” 

People to People’s Executive Director, Diane Serratore, gave the girls a tour of the pantry and spoke with them about the importance of volunteer work, especially during the pandemic.

“It’s been a challenging year, and it’s going to continue to be challenging for a little bit, but the good news is, there are wonderful people that really want to help their neighbors in need,” said Serratore. “And we can’t do this without them.”

According to People to People’s website, the Rockland chapter of the organization provided 2,000 struggling families with monthly food packages in December, and gave nearly 1,500 children gift cards for the holidays.

“It’s really a labor of love, what you do,” said Toro.

People to People continues to serve about 100 Rockland families per day. 

“The purpose of this organization is to do the best we can to make sure nobody goes to bed hungry in a County that really has enough money,” said Serratore.