To the Editor:

The originators of the Victory Garden who came up with this idea have to be commended.

Victory Garden volunteers grow and deliver fresh organic fruit and vegetables to local food pantries and other organizations in the area. As most of you know, buying organic you need to take out a home equity loan when you visit your local supermarket.

All the organizations that are instrumental in making this work have great websites (love my I-phone). Parks and Rec, which oversees the VG, supplies mulch and topsoil in the spring, which makes our job so much easier.

It’s the many organizations in town that volunteer their time to make the VG the success it is. Last year the VG produced and delivered close to 3,500 lbs of fresh produce.

I found that a lot of the volunteers that work at the VG were not sure which organizations accepted the veggies and their hours. I have listed a few of the organizations below.

The FAITH Food Pantry located behind St Rose church: 9-11 am Tuesday morning and 3:30-4:30 pm Thursday afternoon. Try and arrive early on those days so more people can be involved.

Nunnawauk Meadows: 8 am-8 pm Monday to Sunday.

Senior Center: 9 am-4 pm Monday to Friday.

What I find is more convenient, especially on weekends, is Nunnawauk Meadows because of their hours.

A reminder to those who have rows at the VG — if you are going to be away for an extended period of time place flags on the plants which need to be picked. The flags are in the shed as this will minimize any wasted food.

I have informed my friends that any surplus food from my garden is heading to the above groups, they will get sticker shock at the grocery store.

A friend of mine has a very large garden and donates hundreds of pounds of veggies every year to local pantries. Imagine if we all followed his example and delivered them to the above organizations.

Other organizations like the Newtown Lions Club are addressing this problem with a major food drive on September 30th at the Big Y.

We all can make a difference and the saying “it’s better to give than receive” definitely works.

Frank Gardner

Sandy Hook

Editor’s Note: It should not be overlooked that Newtown is also home to the nonprofit Real Food CT, which has donated over 31,000 pounds of fresh grown produce to FAITH and at least a dozen other organizations since 2019.