PSRI Gathers 392lbs of Food for West Bay Marketplace

WARWICK, RI — Last Tuesday, Dec. 16, Photographic Society of RI (PSRI)  held its Christmas Party at Lakewood Baptist Church, coinciding with their 35^th Annual Food Collection to help those in the community who deal with food insecurity. 

PSRI Food Drive Growing

“I set a goal of 250 lbs. and we collected 392 lbs. of non-perishable food items (which was 182 lbs. more than last year), which was delivered to West Bay Marketplace here in the city of Warwick,’ said Lincoln Smith, PSRI  and Lakewood Baptist member and regular organizer of the drive.

‘I want to thank everyone who brought food and those who gave me money to shop on their behalf.  Your generosity was overwhelming and it means a lot to me that you supported this cause, which is very dear to my heart,” Smith wrote in a statement about this year’s effort.

“I volunteer along with our new member Manny Alves at West Bay Marketplace every Friday afternoon.  I see people with full-time jobs who still can’t afford to keep up with grocery expenses.  The need is even greater than last year.  Last year they were serving 390-480 households each week (1,248-1,536 individuals) and this year they are serving 460-590 households each week (1,472-1,888 individuals) and that is only one food bank,” Smith continued.

The RI Community Food Bank has 137 agencies in RI that they give food to. There are also many local churches and many other organizations that help out.

From July  2024 – June 2025, West Bay Marketplace received 866,722 lbs. of food to distribute, which includes what the RI Community Food Bank delivered to them.  For the first 11 months of this year Lakewood Baptist Church has delivered 8,423 lbs. of food (which includes 4,450 boxes of cereal) to West Bay Marketplace.