It's a friendly competition with the same goal: to help as many people in the community as possible.

Sinners and Saints Tattoo owner Roger Chouinard will kick off a food drive coinciding with a comedy night he is hosting, featuring wrestler Mick Foley. Want an autograph? Bring a can of food.

About a-mile-and-a-half up Onset Avenue into Onset Village, Tarra Dean Studio stylist Lauren McCarthy, who happens to be dating Chouinard, decided that she wanted to hold a food drive at the salon and at the Narrows Crossing Restaurant, where she waitresses.

All donations to the dueling food drives will benefit Damien's Place Food Pantry in East Wareham. Where will you be dropping off your nonperishables?

Roger with Sinners and Saints:

Sinners and Saints hosts a food drive each year during the holiday season.

"I've lived here for so long," said Chouinard, "I wanted to try to help people within town."

This year, however, Chouinard is upping the ante. The food drive will officially kick off on November 17, the night Sinners and Saints and Salerno's host wrestler and comedian Mick Foley.

A limited number of tickets are available for a meet-and-greet at Marc Anthony's, scheduled for right before the 7 p.m. show. (The meet-and-greet was supposed to be held in the afternoon at the tattoo shop, but Foley can no longer make it. He's currently filming an episode of NBC's 30 Rock, so, you know, he's sort of busy!)

Chouinard is inviting the community to pick up a ticket for the meet-and-greet or for the show and drop off a food donation at Sinners and Saints Tattoo, located at 37 Depot Street. You can get a ticket for the meet-and-greet with your food donation. Tickets for the show cost $25.

After the kick-off, the food drive will continue through Christmas. Food can be dropped off at Sinners and Saints or at Cape Cod Choppers, Total Auto Concepts, Piper Beau's, Marc Anthony's, Wareham Barber Shop, Sun on the Run, or Bubba's Motorsports in Buzzards Bay. Look for the blue and gold drop-off bins.

Sinners and Saints will also accept new toys and blankets to distribute to families in need. Santa Claus will pass out the toys at the shop on Friday, December 23. (If you know a family who needs help, contact Chouinard at the shop at 508-295-1366.)

Sweetening the pot, Chouinard and the Sinners and Saints artists will match all food donations.

Acknowledging that he clearly has a leg-up in the competition (there are few people in town he DOESN'T know), Chouinard noted: "The people who win at the end are the people we reach."

Lauren with Tarra Dean Studio and Narrows Crossing Restaurant:

Lauren McCarthy was inspired to help her own community during recent trips to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, when she noticed those cities had many people in need.

McCarthy, who grew up in Wareham, knew that there were many in her own town who were suffering and said she needed to find some way to help.

"I really wanted to get involved in the community," she said. "[Wareham] was such a great place to grow up. I wanted to give back."

Chouinard invited McCarthy to help out with his food drive and place a bin at both Tarra Dean Studio and Narrows Crossing. But she didn't want to piggy-back on his food drive.

"I wanted to do my own thing!" McCarthy said.

The salon and the restaurant both embraced the idea and will accept donations until November 23.

"We like to help others," said Tarra Dean, owner of the salon and master stylist. "We support the community and do whatever we can to help." (At Christmastime, the salon "adopts" two local families and Dean, dressed as an elf, finds out what the children want for Christmas and the salon's employees and customers purchase gifts.)

Keri Ricardo, senior colorist and make-up artist, echoed Dean's sentiment: "We're a family salon."

The stylists have a free gift for anyone who donates at the salon. At the Narrows, donors will enjoy a non-alcoholic beverage on the house.

McCarthy, pointing out that she has seen first-hand how the downed economy has affected her customers at both the salon and the restaurant, noted: "Any donation helps!"

Tarra Dean Studio is located at 6 Union Avenue in Onset. Narrows Crossing is located at 1 Narrows Road in Wareham. For more information, visit www.tarradean.com or www.thenarrowscrossing.com.