Times Old Newsies raise $45,000 during Friday's annual donation drive

The Times Old Newsies collected nearly $45,000 on Friday for families in need of food during the holidays.

Together with a $25,000 check from last year's mail-in donations, the Old Newsies provided Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania more than $70,000 in the past two months.

The money will help Second Harvest pay for 2,400 pre-packed food boxes for local families in need during the holidays. Remaining funds will assist the food bank in its year-round mission of providing food security.

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"All in all, I thought it went very well," Old Newsies President Scott Barnes said of Friday's collections. "What we collected pays the bill of commitment that we had to Second Harvest, so anything that we get in December is 'gravy money' that we can use for another donation (to the food bank) in a couple months."

Donations are still welcome at GoFundMe.com/Erie-Times-News-Old-Newsies.

Donors can also send a check to Times Old Newsies, 205 W. 12th St., Erie, PA 16534. Checks should be made payable to Times Old Newsies.

These donations go to the Times Needy Fund, which, in turn, will go to Second Harvest.

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Barnes said the Old Newsies provided Second Harvest with the advance $25,000 check this year because of ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, which limited the group's ability to collect in certain venues.

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The Old Newsies, who usually set up shop inside or in front of local businesses, malls and plazas, cancelled in-person collections in 2020 because of COVID-19 safety concerns.

Barnes said about 130 Old Newsies were able to collect around the county Friday.

"We didn't have a goal this year," Barnes said. "But I think we did really well. I'm really happy with what we collected."

For 82 years, the Old Newsies — now nearly 200 volunteers— have made it an annual mission to feed the hungry during the holidays, fanning out across Erie County on the first Friday of every December to sell a Newsies edition of the Erie Times-News and collect donations.

Newspaper delivery boys started the popular fundraiser in 1939. Community support has remained steadfast for more than eight decades, raising more than $2 million.

A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNRao.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Times Old Newsies: Volunteers give Second Harvest food bank $70,000 for needy families