A Morning Of Giving: Oyster Sunday Participants Donate To Food Pantry

BREWSTER – The Department of Natural Resources last weekend hosted another extraordinary Oyster Sunday at Mants Landing, collecting two truckloads of donations for the Brewster Baptist Church Food Pantry and giving out approximately 15,000 oysters.

Many of the 386 participants at Oyster Sunday on Nov. 19 donated bags of non-perishable food items for those in need. Food drive donors were warmly greeted by Elizabeth, Evelyn, and Zelda Johnson, daughters of Katherine and David Johnson of Brewster.

The girls spent the morning helping collect and organize food pantry wish-list items and thanking donors for their gifts. It was the fifth annual pre-Thanksgiving food drive hosted by the natural resources team.

Sunday marked the fifth consecutive week the DNR opened cages at Brewster’s oyster grant for any 2023 recreational shellfish permit holder to harvest up to five quarts of oysters. For three hours beginning at 8 a.m., the Mants Landing parking lot overflowed with shellfish lovers, dog walkers, and visitors enjoying the sunshine, salt air, and Cape Cod Bay views. By 11:30, when the tide covered the cages, Senior Shellfish and Natural Resource Officer Ryan Burch said 336 shellfish limits had been taken.

The next Oyster Sunday is scheduled for Nov. 26 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. December dates will be announced by the department when assessment of the remaining stock is completed.

DNR Director Chris Miller expressed gratitude to the huge number of volunteers who help the DNR staff make Oyster Sundays and the annual food drive happen. Assistant Shellfish and Natural Resource Officer David Johnson also thanked “the townspeople for showing up for an absolute record-breaking day.”