Following a three-year run in a Church Hill Road coffeehouse, the Women Involved in Newtown collection basket for FAITH Food Pantry has gone on the road to another of the town's gathering places.

The basket is now in the front bay window of Village Perk Cafe in Sandy Hook.

Corey Kondras, who launched the project and continues to spearhead it for WIN, said it was just time for a change for the basket.

"It was a nice ride for the past three years at Starbucks, and we appreciate all the support provided by them," she said March 4. Ms Kondras sat down at Village Perk Cafe, where the basket relocated to a few weeks ago, to talk about the project's new chapter.

Another reason for the basket's move into Sandy Hook, she said, was the move a few months ago of the food pantry from its original home at St John's Episcopal Church to its current home in a freestanding building on Pecks Lane. The food pantry's move was necessitated by the closing of the church.

"The Perk provides a Sandy Hook alternative where folks can drop off donations now that the pantry has moved out of this part of town," Ms Kondras said.

The current location of FAITH is a long-term temporary solution. St Rose of Lima Church, on Church Hill Road, has offered to build a permanent building for the nonecumenical food pantry - FAITH is an acronym for Food Assistance, Immediate Temporary Help - that serves all Newtown residents. Borough Zoning Commission members on March 8 approved the construction of a 2,100-square-foot single-story building for the food pantry on the church's nine-acre campus.

"We wanted to offer the Sandy Hook community a place to drop off their donations, basically because of the void left by the church's closing," Ms Kondras said. "This offers a place in this community where folks may be apt to go. This may be easier for them to get to."

Donations are picked up at least once each week by WIN members.

Requested items include apple and cranberry juices, chili, coffee, dishwashing liquid, fresh fruit (no bananas), hash, laundry detergent, mac and cheese, pasta and sauce, complete pancake mix, rice, stew, syrup, tea, toiletry items, canned tomatoes and fruit, and tuna.

The WIN-FAITH project was launched in October 2013, when Ms Kondras mentioned to WIN members that she had seen a similar basket set up for a food pantry when she visited a Starbucks near her place of employment in Stratford. WIN members are already encouraged to bring donations for FAITH to their regular meetings, so the extension of hosting a public collection location felt natural.

Another reason Ms Kondras moved to basket to Village Perk was to offer her thanks to building owner and developer Mike Porco.

"Mike has done a facelift on this community," Ms Kondras said. "He has made it look so much better than it used to. I know he has shown huge support to rebuilding Sandy Hook, including the building where we now have our collection basket."

The WIN-FAITH basket's new location was immediately noticed when Ms Kondras was putting the basket out.

"The first day I was here, a young woman approached and asked if she could donate something," Ms Kondras recalled. "When I say yes, she went out to her car and came back with two bags of groceries. It was a great kismet moment."

Ms Kondras is certainly pleased with the Village Perk presentation.

"It's really nice to have it here," she said. "They've given it such a prominent location, with signs facing out and into the cafe. It's very easy for visitors to see it."

Village Perk Cafe, at 3 Glen Road, is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. Donations for FAITH Food Pantry can be dropped off any time the coffee shop is open. Those wishing to make financial donations are asked to mail them to FAITH Food Pantry, PO Box 53, Newtown CT 06470.

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