The Music Hall, dubbed “the beating cultural heart of the New Hampshire Seacoast,” (The Boston Globe) is showing its heart on Saturday, June 25, when it opens its doors to the public with a Community Open House consisting of free backstage and tech tours, a free movie (Song of the Sea) at the Loft, and a challenge to fill every seat in the Historic Theater with bags of food for The Seacoast Family Food Pantry’s (SFFP) Summer Meals 4 Kids program during the second annual Fill The Hall Food Drive.
Summer Meals 4 Kids started because many area kids rely on school meals for nutritious breakfasts and lunches and struggle to get enough to eat during the summer break. SFFP has taken on the role of filling this nutrition gap, but needs help accomplishing this goal in the warmer months, because it is not a time people typically think about donating food.
“Last year’s event brought in five tons of food, which translates into 5000 meals. Our goal this year is to double that, as the needs of SFFP have doubled,” said Monte Bohanan, the director of marketing at The Music Hall. “When we learned about the Summer Meals 4 Kids program and how SFFP needed help collecting food for it, we were thrilled to participate. Here in Portsmouth, there are children and families who go without food, and we are committed to help alleviate this. ”
Deb Anthony, executive director of SFFP, explained, “This year the requests for our Summer Meals 4 Kids program have increased by 100%. We need to collect food to feed these kids for the 11 weeks of summer vacation.”
All Fill The Hall donations will go to the Summer Meals 4 Kids program. Anthony said last year’s participants donated food that was ideal for kids.
“Fill The Hall is a perfect opportunity to increase staples such as peanut butter and jelly, canned tuna and chicken, and the much-loved pinto beans,” she said.
“This is a community collaboration between two terrific partners,” added Anthony. “The Music Hall’s strong local presence and rich history make it a perfect match for this endeavor. Most importantly, we hope community members will enjoy seeing the visual impact of their donations as each of the theater’s seats fill with food.”
Due to the overwhelming support for last year’s Fill The Hall, The Music Hall has decided to combine this event with its annual Community Open House. Noted Bohanan, “The Music Hall is fortunate to be located in a community that believes in and is able to nurture the arts—and its youth. This year, it made sense to have the Historic Theater be open with free historic tours and our very popular tech tour that takes you behind the curtain to see how some of the Music Hall magic happens— and also a complimentary movie over at the Loft—as a thank you to this wonderful community that we are so fortunate to be a part of.”
Fill The Hall, which was piloted last year, comes as the SFFP celebrates its 200th anniversary.
Anthony said, “Celebrating two centuries of service in this community is an honor. Our history represents a long tradition of neighbors helping neighbors. It is what is special and unique here in the Seacoast of New Hampshire. We are proud to be part of the tradition today that the Ladies of the Humane Society began in 1816.”
Bohanan said, “For the last 200 years, SFFP has been a staple in this community, and for us here at The Music Hall, it is so rewarding to host Fill The Hall. It’s an honor to help give back to an organization that has given the Seacoast so much.”
The doors of the Historic Theater will be open from 9am to 5pm on June 25 for the event. Coordinators are looking for community organizations, businesses, and residents to do food drives within their groups, workplaces, and neighborhoods to help fill all 900 seats. For more information, visit TheMusicHall.org.
All types of nonperishable foods are welcomed. Needed items include 100 percent juice boxes, peanut butter, tuna and other canned protein, granola bars, low sugar jelly, nuts (small packs), chickpeas, black beans, and low sugar cereals. Small containers of olive oil, ketchup, mayo, and mustard are also on the Summer Meals 4 Kids wish list. Household items such as toilet paper, shampoo, toothpaste, and baby food are also needed.
Donors who don’t want to park can drop bags off with volunteers who will be outside The Music Hall entrance at 28 Chestnut Street. Those who do come in will be encouraged to take a selfie on the historic stage and share their good work with their social networks.