Gift of Lights benefits Loudon Food Pantry

LOUDON — Patrons attending the annual Gift of Lights holiday display at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway donated 11,700 pounds of food to the Loudon Food Pantry throughout the 35-day show. This marked an increase of 2,000 pounds of food over last year, the highest donation to the pantry from the Gift of Lights in four years. Along with the food, New Hampshire Motor Speedway received over $500 in monetary donations which allows the pantry to purchase additional essential food items not currently in inventory.

The Gift of Lights presented by Eastern Propane and Oil is a 2.5-mile drive-thru holiday light show, which turns New Hampshire Motor Speedway into a winter wonderland with over 400 displays and two million LED lights. Attendance for the event, which ran from Nov. 24-Dec. 31, was up an estimated 25% from the 2016 event and ranked as one of the most highly attended Gift of Lights seasons since it began seven years ago.

“We’re extremely overjoyed with the size of the Gift of Lights donation this year, and every year,” said Sue Houck, President of the Loudon Food Pantry. “Winter is always a difficult time in New Hampshire, and generous donations like this are very beneficial to our community. Especially with how harshly this winter has started, being able to provide local families with a meal is incredibly helpful in supporting them through these cold months.”

A portion of all admission proceeds benefits the New Hampshire Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities who will receive several thousand dollars to kick off their 2018 fundraising efforts. Last year, NHSCC distributed $222,000 benefiting 122,000 children in the New England region, including 26 New Hampshire organizations.

The Loudon Firefighters Association hosted the Saturday night s’mores pit at the Gift of Lights holiday display and raised over $2,400. These funds will be used to help purchase a universal terrain vehicle to help with forest fires and rescues in the town. (Courtesy photo)