The Rochester Opera House is celebrating its 3rd annual Pack the House event on Saturday, December 16th. Pack the House is an initiative to fill every seat in the theater with donated items to help people in need.

In past years, Pack the House has been able to donate to Gather NH, End 68 Hours of Hunger, SHARE Fund, and the Grace Church Food Pantry. This year, they will add another organization to the fold – Pope Memorial Humane Society.

“For the past three years, we have been blessed to be able to fill every seat in Rochester Opera House (over 750!) with a bag of food or the funds to cover a bag of food,” shares Associate Artistic Director Jenry Towle. “We want to spread the love and support of our community to as many as we can, so we split all of our donations evenly between organizations that benefit Rochester and our surrounding community.”

Patrons may receive a free ticket with the donation of a bag of food, or a portion of their purchased ticket will go to support five local hunger relief and animal rescue organizations serving the greater Rochester area.

Starting at 11:00 am, patrons may drop off donated items to receive a complimentary ticket to the 2:00 pm matinee of A Christmas Carol, or they may purchase a ticket at full price, with a portion of that sale going to donations.

Organizations are requesting the following items: soup (not condensed), peanut butter, canned meat and vegetables, cereal, diapers (size 5-6), wet and dry pet food, and cat litter.

Visit www.rochesteroperahouse.com for more information.