“It went pretty well,” said Bobby Forand about the “Give or Take” food drive he coordinated on Thanksgiving weekend at the News Cafe on Broad Street in Pawtucket. “People stayed, and there’s a lot of food.”
Forand, the drummer of The McGunks, which was one of three punk groups that played at the iconic bar on November 29, pointed at a table laden with canned goods, nonperishables, and boxed dry foods. Several crammed grocery bags sat under the table, too.
On December 1, Forand brought 267 pounds of food to the pantry of Westbay Community Action Inc. in Warwick.
“A lot more food than I expected got donated,” John Marques, who has owned the News Cafe for the past 16 years, said on Saturday night. “It’s a great idea. Donate food. Or, if you’re hungry, take some food home.”
When Forand approached Marques with the idea, SNAP benefits had been stopped due to the federal government shutdown. As Forand put it during his group’s closing set, “We’re all not that far from not having any food. Thanks for donating. And take food if you need it.”
Ryan O’Keefe, the lead singer of Follow Thru, agreed. During the band’s opening set, he commented about the food drive, “It’s incredible. This is the worst it’s been in years.”
Taken By Vultures, the second group to play, had just come from another gig in Salem, MA. Steve Knowles said he’d heard about “Give or Take” from fellow drummer Forand.
When it was over, Knowles told Forand his drumming reminded him of the way Animal banged out the beat with Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem in the Muppet Show. Known for his growls and frenetic movements, Animal also happened to have a big heart.
And the comparison surely fit, in both cases, that night.
Forand is a contributing writer for Motif.