WALLINGFORD -- Thousands of Connecticut residents, who may have otherwise gone without, will have a hot Thanksgiving meal thanks to the Connecticut Food Bank.
They’re not just getting turkey, it’s all the fixings!
The Connecticut food bank collected and gave out and more than 18,000 turkeys this year. Many of them coming from donations from the community.
“We probably had over a dozen food drives and of course we have our own food drive here we’re families, and they drop off food to the food bank and we probably have another two dozen food drives where it’s just offices or organizations that just wanted to bring something, so it’s really been a community effort and we are so excited this is our Super Bowl,” said Valarie Shultz-Wilson, CEO, Connecticut Food Bank.
Local pantries place these orders last month based on based on how much food they thought they would need to serve those in need on Thanksgiving. The Coast Guard out here this morning helping pantries load the food up.
“Normally we feed 60 to 100 people for Thanksgiving it’s upwards of 200 I heard one year it’s about 250 before I started working there,” said Erik Stowe, of St Ann’s in Hamden.
And that was an average size order, some of them much bigger. They rely on the help from volunteers like the Coast Guard and the Waterbury fire department to help pack these orders and get them off to their final destination.
“it could be your neighbors you don’t know who needs help this time of year so it feels good,” said Ken Dupont of the Waterbury Fire Department.
The Connecticut food bank serves every county in Connecticut with the exception of Hartford and Tolland. They take donations throughout the year to also keep these pantries fully stocked.