At the end of a five-hour food drive, firefighters from all five of Newtown's volunteer companies had completed another very successful Fill The Fire Truck last weekend.

Food and cash donations were accepted by firefighters stationed outside two of the town's supermarkets on Saturday, November 17. Sandy Hook, Hawleyville and Hook & Ladder members were at Big Y on Queen Street, while counterparts from Botsford and Dodgingtown were at Stop & Shop.

At the end of the collection, Sandy Hook EMS Captain Karin Halstead — who has organized the annual event since its inception — reported that the event yielded 52 turkeys, 89 boxes of food, and $1,732 in cash and gift cards. All of the donations were transported to FAITH Food Pantry on Saturday, where firefighters, friends and family members worked with food pantry volunteers to move everything into the food pantry's building.

The annual drive is done on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, to help Newtown families put dinner on their table for the holiday. The pantry is normally open on Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings, but had planned a [naviga:u]special [/naviga:u][naviga:u]distribution session for the evening of Monday, November 19[/naviga:u], to encourage clients to get their Thanksgiving fixings ahead of the national holiday.