Submitted Photo A pie sale by Ellie VanDette of Fredonia High School raised $750.

A Fredonia High School student has helped make a difference for local seniors and homebound residents in her community this holiday season.

Ellie VanDette, a senior at Fredonia High School, developed and organized a Thanksgiving Pie Sale with all proceeds benefiting the meal fund for Dunkirk-Fredonia Meals on Wheels. Close to 200 meals were funded because of VanDette’s donation.

“It was very impactful,” Deb Pacos, Executive Director of Dunkirk-Fredonia Meals on Wheels, said of VanDette’s donation. “She is a lovely young woman. She was happy to do it.”

With donations from Tops Friendly Markets and Meadows Farms, along with assistance from her mother, VanDette shopped for and hand-made over 35 pies – including pumpkin, apple and pecan pies. The pie sale raised over $750 for Meals on Wheels.

“We were so excited when Ellie approached us with her idea,” said Pacos. “She followed through, got donations, and worked countless hours to pull it off – we can’t thank her enough. It’s so encouraging to see how much the community cares about the well-being of our older residents.”

VanDette was introduced to Meals on Wheels when her mother, Emily, volunteered with the organization near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Soon after that, Ellie joined her mother on a delivery route that summer.

VanDette thought of organizing the pie fundraiser as a way to support Meals on Wheels around the holidays because of her love for baking, paired with the fact that pies are so often consumed as tradition over the holiday season. “I enjoy baking and wanted to come up with an idea that everyone would love,” she said.

Dunkirk-Fredonia Meals on Wheels was formed in 1970 by concerned citizens with the goal of providing nutritional meals to seniors and disabled, ill, or otherwise homebound residents, while also allowing clients to remain at their home to maintain their independence. Dunkirk-Fredonia Meals on Wheels currently features 55 volunteers to assist in the delivery of meals and to provide wellness checks to clients. To inquire about agency services, or for information about volunteering, call (716) 366-8822.