Maguire's Delivers Early Christmas Gift to Easton Food Pantry

When Maguire's owners Pat Connell, Michael Sullivan and Neil Levine got together in the fall to discuss their annual holiday party, they wanted to do something more this time around.

"This year we said, 'let's do something nice'," Levine said. ".. This is the time of year to think instead of buying things, maybe we should give back."

Each year, Connell, Sullivan and Levine invite their most loyal customers to an evening of free food and a cash bar. This year, the proceeds from the cash bar went to the Easton Food Pantry.

Levine cut a check Sunday night as the holiday party wound down and it was delivered first thing Monday morning.

"The food pantry just does a tremendous job," Levine said. "It's a good local group and this time of year there are a lot of hungry people out there."

In total, Maguire's collected $2,000 from the three-hour long event. The restaurant collected $1,630 in sales, $70 from donations and an additional $300 from the pockets of the three owners.

The extra cash comes at a good time for the food pantry. The pre-holiday distribution dates were Monday and Tuesday and the pantry expected some of it's highest numbers ever.

Maguires' donation adds to a list of contributors from the community, including Mansfield Bank, North Easton Savings Bank, Roche Brother's, Shaw's and Hannafords.

Representatives from the food pantry were estatic to accept Maguires' "generous" donation.

"They're great neighbors," the food pantry said in a statement. "They've always been great neighbors. To help out the food pantry - this is one more example of how the town comes together."