'We Give Our Souls On Christmas Day': Free Meal Organizer On Long Island

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Lifelong Long Islander Peter Pecataggio never exchanges Christmas gifts with his family.

For 17 years, he and his friends have organized Home for the Holidays in Patchogue. The free meal program feeds those who might not have the means to feed themselves or any family to share a holiday meal with.

“All our money just goes to this charity on Christmas,” he said. “Whatever we were going to spend on each other, we just give it away.”

Because of that, their holiday life is simplified — they don’t shop at the mall.

“So we never deal with the stress and the bull—- that makes people forget what the holiday is about,” he added. “We avoid the whole thing. Because all we do is care about people we don’t even know.”

Magic takes over.

“An amazing thing happens is that you begin to remember what the holidays are — not the best sweater that you can find or the perfect pocketbook,” said Pecataggio, a physical trainer who splits his time between Sayville and Los Angeles working with A-listers like heiress and media personality Paris Hilton.

“It’s about giving to each other, and we just avoid so much of that it’s almost we give up our Christmas, but we almost gain Christmas,” he said. “It’s a wild thing, but it feels so right.”

The organization, which was started up by Picataggio and a group of friends, including restauranteur Scottie Campbell who owns several local businesses, including Harbor Crab, with the desire to give back to the needy in the community at the holidays.

The groups started out renting space from local churches or halls to fit the crowds for a sit-down dinner. They took donations from local restaurants — some of the well-known names — but also buy meals with the help of donations, mostly organized on a GoFundMe.

The sole intention is to provide a top-notch meal for those who cannot afford one.

“Our meals are incredible,” he said. “It’s not a soup kitchen.”

The way it works is that people who sign up in advance indicate what their preference is, and the group tries to make it happen.

Pecataggio makes a point that there is always a turkey, roast beef, or prime rib meal, as well as an Italian or a Spanish meal, and a children’s meal.

This year prime rib is “through the roof,” so a lot of people can’t afford it, and the organization has seen orders for the meal double this year, he said.

“You really kind of see the heartbeat of our country through this charity,” he added.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the group was servicing around 350 people, but that spiked with the number of people out of work and in need of financial help. During that time, the organization moved to take-out dinners with The Meetball Place In Patchogue serving as a pick-up point.

Pecataggio has always wanted to reach 1,000, and he nearly reached that with around 875, an increase by about 125 from 2023, this Wednesday.

The organization also acts as “Santa Claus” for children taking part in the program, arranging gifts for them that are tailored to a “T.”

“One kid likes basketball, another one likes video games,” he said. “And we’ll really create a toy bag for each individual child based on age, gender, and preference of what they like, and then when they come and pick up their food, we’ll also give them a toy bag for each child.

Home for the Holidays has become a way of life for Pecataggio and his colleagues with Home for the Holidays.

“My whole family, all my friends, people, volunteers that have come for so many other reasons — someone’s grandmother died, and they didn’t want to be home,” he said. “The whole family came down. They got swept away, and now they’re with us for 10 years, just things like that. All different.”

“It started with just friends, and now everyone is a friend, but it just kind of goes that way,” he added.

Campbell, who owns The Meetball Place, also spends his day at the restaurant with his family, including his two sons and his wife, helping. His brother, who is a chef, also comes down to cook.

“We’re fortunate enough to be doing really well in the community of Patchogue,” he said. “We really want to give something back. So we kind of like giving up on Christmas, well, not really give it up, but we donate our time on Christmas day to help feed all these families that are in need and give out some toys and give them some clothes.”

Home for the Holidays preparations take months and about 15 people to pull together before the big day, then about 50 volunteers on the day of.

Volunteers are up bright and early to prep for the arrival of their guests. They spend from about noon to 3:30 p.m. doling out meat, potatoes, pasta, rice, veggies, and dessert.

“Christmas Day is insane,” Pecataggio said. “Patchogue is pretty much closed down. On the day of, you come down and see The Meetball Place with a line on the street [outside]. “It’s a system that we have about 50 volunteers who come from all walks of life. I know them all.”

Each person is given a job, whether they are on mashed potatoes, or toys.

“We just literally give our soul on Christmas Day to people that we don’t know,” he said. “The beauty of it is, and the sad part of it is, a lot of times, we’ve had the same people come for 17 years. I’ve met these same families, because a lot of times the economics don’t change, and those kids have kids, and it’s the same, you know. So now we’re seeing generations that we’ve been doing this for, that we’re feeding — generational families, which is incredible.”

Campbell described the day as “a beautiful thing,” saying his sons look forward to the event every year.

“They can’t wait for it,” he said. “They can’t wait to help out. It’s such a beautiful feeling, for the spirit of Christmas to come back to us.”

As kids, it was about presents, then as an adult, it transitioned into eating and drinking a lot and falling asleep on the couch.

“So the real meanings was lost,” he said, adding, “And now we get to help people. That’s what Christmas is all about, not about always getting presents. My boys have learned that for the last 10 to 12 years. They love it.”

When the day was done, around four or five o’clock, Campbell and his family went home and had Christmas dinner themselves.

When Pecataggio’s day was done, and everyone is served, he and his family headed to a local Hibachi restaurant.

“I travel all over the world,” he said. “I would be in Dubai and fly home for this for a week. That’s what I would do. It just means so much.”

The background of the person in need of help doesn’t matter.

“These are our peers,” he said. “These are our brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers. Everything is done with tremendous dignity and we appreciate the fact that we’re able to do this.”

“I think that what sets us apart, a lot of times, from people that do things, is that we just are so grateful that we’re able to do it,” he said, adding that even during the pandemic the group found a way against the odds. “We’re going to find a way. We’re going to make a way, you know.”

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