Local Food Drive In Haverhill Catches Big Attention On Social Media

HAVERHILL, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Haverhill residents are hooked on a new trend: taking pictures with a tuna fish mascot.

This is all part of the Tuna in July campaign, launched by nonprofit 411 Cares last year, where they try to collect five thousand tuna cans and mayonnaise to make sandwiches for local veterans, seniors, and the unhoused.

The mascot in question: a poster of a cartoon tuna fish wearing a veteran’s hat and holding a can of tuna. 411 Cares introduced this mascot to encourage local residents to donate to the food drive and promoted it on their social media with the #PicWithTheFish. Since then, it has became a social media phenomenon in the city.

“If you search #PicWithTheFish, there [are] thousands of city residents holding the picture with [the] fish,” a local resident told WBZ NewsRadio.

Haverhill Police Chief Robert Pistone also joined in on the trend, and compared the movement to the popular picture-book game Where’s Waldo. “Locally, it’s become ‘Where’s the tuna’ right?” he told WBZ NewsRadio. “As a result, she’s collecting quite a bit and it will go to a good use.”

Since July 1, they collected about two thousand cans and are well on their way to their goal of five thousand cans, City Council President Thomas Sullivan told WBZ News Radio. “It’s just a fun [and] simple thing that you can do to make a difference, and we made a difference."

WBZ NewsRadio's Kendall Buhl (@WBZKendall) reports.

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