Collecting For Newtown’s Food Pantries—

Three Weeks

Of Caring

By Shannon Hicks

Governor Rell recently announced a statewide Day of Caring & Compassion for Saturday, November 7. Residents across the state are invited to visit any of 15 fire stations in Connecticut that will be serving as collection centers that morning for donations of nonperishable foods to help replenish the state’s two main food pantries.

None of Newtown’s fire companies will be participating in that event because they will all be working together two weeks later for the annual Fill The Fire Truck campaign, to once again help FAITH Food Pantry and the Salvation Army Food Pantry.

In place of Gov Rell’s one-day event, and to get ready for the November collection by the fire companies, The Bee invites all Newtown residents to visit our office at 5 Church Hill Road any time between now and November 7 with donations for either food pantry.

Ann Piccini, the director of Newtown Social Services, says her food pantry (Salvation Army Food Pantry, located within the Social Services office) can use almost anything.

“I need just about everything except pasta and garbanzo beans,” she said Wednesday afternoon. “We have a full case of pasta, so we don’t need that.

“But I can use anything. Peanut butter and jelly,” she continued. “Jelly I’m out of, and I have two jars of peanut butter right now.

“Everything and anything. It would all be a great help.”

Likewise, Lee Paulsen, one of the coordinators at FAITH Food Pantry in Sandy Hook, has more than enough pasta.

“We do not need pasta, and we do not need soup. Otherwise we’ll take it all,” she said this week, before quickly adding, “I’m not saying we’re not going to use it, but these are the things we just do not need.”

FAITH Food Pantry cannot accept paper napkins and paper plates.

“I just don’t have storage space for that,” Mrs Paulsen explained. “We can, however, take toilet paper because that’s always needed. And coffee is a real treat because we do not buy that.”

Both food pantries would also welcome donations of dog and cat food.

“We were getting it for a little while, but then the group that was giving it to us ran out of money,” said Mrs Paulsen.

The Bee will divide everything into two large collections — unless food or financial donations are specified for a particular pantry, in which case those requests will also be honored — and get everything to the pantries during the week of November 6.

For information about Newtown’s Three Weeks of Caring, contact Shannon Hicks at 426-3141 or Shannon@thebee.com.