When Rudy Gobin first moved to Bradford 12 years ago, he personally dropped off pies and cookies to the Friendship Table because he admired nonprofit organizations that feed the needy.

Gobin, who is store manager of TCC Verizon at the Bradford Mall, continued to help the Table on behalf of the business over the years with the most recent donation of $1,800 provided  Friday. Gobin said the funds, which were raised through Verizon’s TCC Gives program, are earmarked to help the soup kitchen purchase needed items.

Gobin, and his employee, Autumn Williams, presented the donation to Table co-chairpersons Barbara Shufran and Joe Doriguzzi, who said the funds will be used to purchase new tables, a printer for the office and other items.

“This is a thank you to the community for shopping at our local Verizon store,” Gobin said of the donation. “Every time someone shops at our store, a percentage of that goes to TCC Gives. What we’re doing is giving (the Table) a grant” from TCC Gives.

Shufran and Doriguzzi said news that the Table would receive the funds was wonderful as the East Corydon Street facility is in desperate need of new dining tables.

“These tables were second-hand when we got them 21 years ago,”  Shufran explained. “We’ve repaired them and we’ve repainted them four and five times. It’s to the point that if we take them down we don’t know if we’ll get them back up.”

Shufran said Gobin wrote a grant for TCC Gives with the purchase of approximately 12 or 13 tables and other items for the Table in mind.

“If there is any money left over, we can use them to buy chairs,” she continued. “And we also need a new printer.”

Shufran said Gobin has helped the Table in other ways over the years, such as providing Christmas parties for the participants as well as buying backpacks for children returning to school this fall.

“He bought a trunk full of backpacks and brought them down here about three weeks ago,” she remarked.

Gobin said TCC Gives funds were used to purchase the backpacks and will be used to provide school supplies for local teachers this year through the Teachers Rock program. Currently, the store is raising TCC Gives funds through the Veterans Rock program to provide care packages for local veterans. Shufran said Gobin has also helped the Table obtain the most economical services for its phone and computer needs.

“One of the reasons why I believe in the Friendship Table is because they believe in feeding the community,” Gobin added. “I’ve always believed that nobody should go to bed hungry.”

Gobin said he grew up with values that taught him that “if you have a plate of food, split it in half and share it with somebody else.”