First Congregational Food Drive At Stop And Shop Saturday

From St. Vincent de Paul
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This Saturday, August 17, members and friends of First Congregational Church in Middletown will be having a food drive at the Stop and Shop Supermarket which is located at 416 East Main Street in Middletown.

The hours of the food drive will be 9:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.

The food collected will be donated to The Amazing Grace Food Pantry a program of St. Vincent de Paul Middletown. Amazing Grace is currently serving approximately 1,000 Middletown families each month. The organizers of the drive hope to help restock the shelves of Amazing Grace as summer months always cause a slowdown in donations.

Last Chance To Order Grinders To Benefit Amazing Grace Food Pantry

Amazing Grace tells us that there is still time to order grinders to benefit the Food Pantry. Orders will be delivered next Thursday, April 19th. Email grindersforgrace@gmail.com for more information.

South Fire Stuff a Truck a Success!

SOUTH DISTRICT FIREFIGHTERS TO HOLD STUFF-A-TRUCK FOOD DRIVE FOR AMAZING GRACE FOOD PANTRY

On March 24, 2012, members of the International Association of Firefighters, Local 3918 (South District firefighters) will sponsor their bi-annual Stuff-a-Truck, for the Amazing Grace Food Pantry.

Firefighters from South District and their families will volunteer their time from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot of Stop & Shop on East Main Street in Middletown, soliciting donations from shoppers for Amazing Grace Food Pantry. The effort in November of 2011 garnered 3900 pounds of donations from shoppers and raised $600 in cash donations.

South District Firefighters hold the Stuff-a-Truck event twice a year, once in November, once in April. The firefighters thank all who donated last year and hope to make their springtime effort as successful, so if you are out and about stop by and say hello.

Grinders for Grace

Submitted by Eye Reader Rochelle Hughes

In 2006, Mayor Sebastian Giuliano and the Common Council of the City of Middletown voted to appropriate a matching grant for the Amazing Grace Food Pantry, a program of St. Vincent DePaul, Middletown

For every dollar that the food pantry raised, the city would match fifty cents, up to $25,000.
The first event was the Amazing Challenge Soup Supper, which was a combination thank you to friends of Amazing Grace and a delicious supper of soup and bread all donated by area restaurants, churches and friends. Scores of people attended the no charge event and brought along their checkbooks. Thanks to the generosity of so many, a substantial amount of money was raised to begin the match.
In the meantime, Claudia DeFrance was thinking of a way to raise more money for the food pantry. She knew that the parishioners of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Middletown would be ready to help.
Giannelli’s Early Learning Center on Round Hill Road, devotedly and lovingly operated by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Garden, had always hosted a meatball grinder day as a major fund raiser for their facility. Mrs. DeFrance had heard that they were not doing the fundraiser anymore and approached Sister Donna and Sister Consulata about having a meatball grinder day for the Amazing Grace Food Pantry. The Sisters were happy to turn the day over to Amazing Grace and the first “GRINDERS FOR GRACE” was established.
Help was needed to organize this huge task. Fred Terrasi was the President of the Italian American Civic Order at the time. The IACO has a reputation in Middletown for having some of the best cooks in town. So they were asked, they said YES and with them came the now famous, secret (Vinnie Munno) meatball recipe.
Together the members of the IACO and the parishioners of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Middletown rallied to organize and perform the herculean task of making and delivering the grinders. One was Rochelle Hughes, a parishioner and member of the Finance Committee, who came forward to be the official bean counter – organizing orders, collecting money, keeping track of the totals. A daunting, crucial job to the success of the event and she shines each year as a true community organizer. One by one, members of every church in Middletown came forward to chop fresh parsley and garlic, roll thousands of meatballs, make gallons of homemade sauce, and of course make, wrap and deliver the grinders to Middletown and many, many surrounding towns and at the end of a very long day wash pans and clean the kitchen!
The first year, 600 grinders were purchased by area businesses, schools and friends. In 2011, 1,197 grinders were sold, resulting in over $6,000.00 donated to Amazing Grace.
This year, “GRINDERS FOR GRACE” will take place on April 19th at the Monsignor M. Davitt Fox Parish Center at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 10 Elm Street, Middletown.
Help is needed and if you have the energy to do “God’s work,” please join a remarkable group of individuals and work to help your neighbors in need.
Please email grindersforgrace@gmail.com and you will be sent a schedule of work times. If you do not have an email, please send a self addressed stamped envelope to:
GRINDERS FOR GRACE
PO Box 182
Middletown, CT 06457

“Like” Grinders for Grace on Facebook and follow the events leading up to April 19th…or call 860-930-3447.
During these difficult times for so many, please consider donating your time to help. If you cannot donate time, we would gladly accept your cash or check donations to defray expenses. Last year, over 600 pounds of ground beef, 36 dozen eggs, 40 gallons of sauce and all the ingredients to make our meatballs and sauce from homemade recipes were purchased, as were the packaging to wrap the grinders, labels to mark each one, napkins, paper towels and the list goes on. Please send any donation you can afford to:
Grinders for Grace, PO BOX 182, Middletown, CT 06457. Please make checks payable to Grinders for Grace.
Grinders for Grace would not be the huge success it is without the volunteers who do all the work. But most importantly YOU, the customers who buy the grinders, are the BEST! Without you, there would be no money to give to the food pantry; money that now is crucial because so many need the food pantry. Times are difficult for all of us. Therefore, a challenge is in place to donate at least $10,000 this year. Challenge a fellow business or another office within your building. Challenge at local hospitals, police departments, fire departments to place the largest order. Aetna thus far has the distinction of the largest order ever with 300 grinders going to their facility in Hartford last year!!!! (Their hearts never left Middletown). Can your business, office or group of friends top that? You can bet you’ll have a delicious time trying!
Thank you for supporting Amazing Grace. And thank you for helping your neighbors.

South Fire Holiday Giving Success

SOUTH DISTRICT FIREFIGHTERS AND MIDDLETOWN RESIDENTS MAKE STUFF-A-TRUCK A HUGE SUCCESS

On November 11, 2011, members of the International Association of Firefighters, Local 3918 (South District firefighters) sponsored their bi-annual Stuff-a-Truck, gathering more than 3900 pounds of food for the Amazing Grace Food Pantry. Firefighters from South District and their families volunteered their time from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the parking lot of Stop & Shop on East Main Street in Middletown, soliciting donations from shoppers for Amazing Grace Food Pantry. Despite the cold wind, people gave cheerfully, stopping to chat with the firefighters. The effort also raised $600 in cash donations. South District Firefighters hold the Stuff-a-Truck event twice a year, once in November, once in April.

A check in the amount of $600 was presented to the food pantry on Monday, November 21, 2011.

The Quest for the Golden Nose

The 2011 Oddfellows Children's Circus is in peril and at risk of closing, unless the young circus performers retrieve the "the golden nose." "The Quest for the Golden Nose" is based on the ancient Greek myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece. The Middletown Children's Circus has adapted the tale to show off their circus talents as they journey to retrieve the nose. In this tale the golden nose has given the circus years of magical success, but this year the gods have decided to test the performers to see if they are worthy to continue to keep the nose. The children have to make it through many challenges including windy boat rides, alligator filled swamps, bullfights, dragons and more.
Oddfellows Playhouse and the Middletown Commission on the Arts present the 23rd Children’s Circus of Middletown: The Quest for the Golden Nose. The one-time-only show will be presented on August 5 at 5 PM at Macdonough School, with a rain date of August 6 at 5 PM.

The Children’s Circus is a 5-week, half-day program for 130 children ages 8-14 that has become not only a huge local event but also a national model for nonprofit municipal partnerships. This year Steve Ginsburg, one of the founders of HartBeat Ensemble, joins the circus in his first year as director. Over the five weeks, participants learn a huge variety of circus skills such as acrobatics, dance, juggling, unicycling, stilt walking, clowning, and visual arts. After deciding on two areas of specialization, the participants train daily and perform for the camp at the end of each week. For the last two weeks of the program, the participants are cast into featured roles in a circus act, and rehearse these acts before performing in front of over 1,000 people. The performance also features the live circus band of local musicians led by Eric Kuhn, costumes by Betsy Spiro, and scenic and prop design by Jason Leinwand.

This year, Oddfellows is asking everyone to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to Amazing Grace Food Pantry. Bring a lawn chair and enthusiasm to Macdonough School and enjoy the spectacle.

Tickets:
Adults $5, Students/Seniors $3

The Children’s Circus is made possible by the Middletown Commission on the Arts, the Middlesex United Way, Middletown Rotary, and Oddfellows Playhouse’s generous supporters.

Remember When Pluto Was A Planet?

The Life of Galileo will come to life tonight when Oddfellows Playhouse’s Teen Repertory Company brings it to the stage. A Pay-What-You-Can Preview begins at 7:30pm this evening. Please bring a canned good to benefit Amazing Grace Food Pantry.

The Life of Galileo, by Bertolt Brecht, is the story of the man who used science to prove the Sun was the center of the universe. When he published his work and challenged the Church, he was left with nothing.

Other performances are set for Dec. 3-4 and 10-11. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased by calling the box office at (860) 347-6143 or by e-mail at tickets@oddfellows.org.

About Oddfellows Playhouse:
Oddfellows Playhouse is located at 128 Washington Street, Middletown. For more than 35 years Oddfellows Playhouse has been more than just a performing arts program. It aims to make a positive difference in the lives of 2,000 young people each year by using the arts as tools to build self-confidence, communication skills, a sense of responsibility, and an appreciation for the richness and diversity of the world in which we live.

Oddfellows programming is made possible through the generous support of the CT Department of Education, the CT Commission on Culture & Tourism, The Stare Fund, the Middletown Commission on the Arts, Pratt & Whitney-Middletown, the Irving Kohn Foundation and the Daphne Seybolt Culpeper Memorial Fund and radio sponsor WESU 88.1FM.

IDS Canned Food Drive and Tag Sale to Benefit Amazing Grace Food Pantry

The Independent Day School in Middlefield is hosting a canned food drive and tag sale to benefit Amazing Grace Food Pantry this Saturday, 10/30, from 9am - 12pm.

Please bring a non-perishable food item as your "ticket" to the tag sale. The following items are particularly needed at the food pantry: tuna, peanut butter, beans, soups, canned fruit and veggies, cereals, pasta, pasta sauce, juices and rice.

IDS is located at 115 Laurel Brook Road, Middlefield, CT.

Architects Team with Bielefield Elementary & Help Hungry

Local architect Sean Donadio of Middletown and designer/job captain Chris Speeg, both from Bianco Giolitto Weston Architects of Middletown, along with several collegues, teamed up with teachers and 15 students from Bielefield Elementary School to participate in the 9th Annual AIA (American Institure of Architects) CANstruction design competition. Architecture firms and schools from across CT came together to fundraise money to purchase canned food items and transform them into sculpture. Although the amount of cans collected by the groups were visibly signifigantly less than the previous year, more firms than last year participated; an interesting event as many design firms across the state this year, are experiencing record lay- offs. Unemployment becoming cruel reality for some perhaps inspired more firms to participate even if as best they could. The efforts on display at the competition, like that of the Bielefield team are still outstanding achievements- all contributions in the thousands of cans! All food items collected by each participating firm/school team were then donated to the Connecticut Food Share to be distributed to the areas where the firms an schools are located; meaning the majority of the items Bielefield collected will stay within Middletown and likely be distributed by Amazing Grace Food Pantry. This year the competition was held May 15th in the gallery at the new Hartford Connecticut Children's Science Museum. The award ceremony which will announce winner's of awards such as "Best Use of Labels" and "Most Item's Collected." is May 19th and the sculptures will be on display through the end of the month to visitors of the museum.

The team raised through donation, fundraising, and B.O.E. contribution $3,400 and were able to buy and collect 5,195 canned items. New this year, students visited Amazing Grace Food Pantry, and were able to see where their donations went and helped to sort cans. The students, all of which are between 3-5 grade, learned that families are only allowed to go to the pantry every 30 days and how so many people depended on donations to this facility for survival.

The theme for this years sculpture was SHARING HOPE- GIVING RESPECT-HAVING- PRIDE, a motto at Bielefield School that all students try to abide by. Co-captain Chris Speeg compiled student sketches of their ideas of these concepts into a sinlge sketch and designed the flame. Teachers and designers met with students several times after school to teach them how come up with a 3D concept, to build safely, and work together. A ring of silver pea cans and blue tuna cans surrounding the inner flame made of red tomato cans and orange potato cans was designed to spell out these words. At the build, student's donned red tee shirts and hats to show team unity. During the build, I witnessed team co captain Sean Donadio and teacher Colleen Monnes recieve many compliments from other firm/school team leaders on how well behaved the Bielefield students were. Most other teams consisted of middle school and high school students. Students worked for 5 hours in 15 minute rotations of teams of 5 students with 2 adults at a time to complete the sculpture in a 10ft x 10 ft area. While 5 students built at a time, others worked together to pass cans into the build area, sort, and un pack boxes. Other students were in charge or making sure labels were facing the right way; no one was left with nothing to do! It was a beautiful & chaotic scene. Scupltures remain on display to visitors at the Children's Science Museum in Hartford through June. See the CT AIA.org website for more photos. Go Bielefield Bobcats!

CT Day of Caring and Compassion

Middletown's Cross St. Fire House served as one of fifteen locations for today's CT Day of Caring and Compassion, a state-wide effort to collect non-perishable food items for local food pantries, Foodshare, and Connecticut Food Bank.

Fire Fighters Chris Augeri and Keith Clark were on duty when my family dropped off our food items this morning around 11:15 am, and there had been about 20 donations since the food drive started at 10:00am. The drive was scheduled to last until 2pm.

As a special bonus, my three children got an impromptu tour of a firetruck. I feel like I really rocked parenthood today...we did some family community service AND I got the cool mommy points for letting them sit in the firetruck (thanks for the assist Chris and Keith)!

Even if you didn't make today's food drive, the need is still present and there is always time to make a difference. The number of people seeking help from food banks in CT is up 30% from last year. Middletown's food pantry, Amazing Grace, is run by St. Vincent DePaul Place and offers several opportunities to help out: click here for more information. Most basically, you can always drop off food donations at Amazing Grace, and items like peanut butter, tuna, canned fruit, spaghetti sauce and pasta are highly sought after food items. Or, challenge your family or business to become participants in the Families Feeding Families Initiative. This program allows you to contract with Amazing Grace to provide a specific amount of a specific food item throughout the year (for example, you might be responsible for bring in 25 cans of tuna a month for the year).

Monetary donations support St. Vincent DePaul Place's Soup Kitchen and they are used to buy food items from the Connecticut Food Bank for $.16 per lb. In fact, 35% of the food distributed through Amazing Grace is bought from the Connecticut Food Bank.

Every little bit helps, so if you see a great sale at the grocery store or if you're looking for a family community service project, please consider what you can do to help relieve hunger in our community.

Stuff a Fire Truck

South District Fire Department and the South Fire District Firefighters Local 3918 team up to help feed the community.

Friday, November 6, and Saturday November 7, 2009, members of the South Fire District and the South Fire District Firefighters Local 3918 are hosting a “STUFF A FIRE TRUCK” food drive. The collection will take place at the Stop and Shop at 416 East Main Street. Firefighters will be collecting both perishable and non-perishable food items to benefit the Amazing Grace Food Pantry on Main St. Extension in the city of Middletown.

Collections can be made from 5-10 P.M. on Friday, 11/6/09 and from 8 A.M.-8 P.M. on Saturday, 11/7/09.

Around Middletown in 80 Days: Day 18

Amazing Grace Food Pantry
139 Main Street Extension


Amazing Grace Food Pantry is in need of food donations. Canned goods, especially Tuna and Soup, cereal and peanut butter are the most needed donations. Please bring non-perishable food donations to Amazing Grace today between 11am and 5pm or tomorrow between 10am and 1pm. Donations are accepted Monday, Wednesday and Fridays between 11am and 5pm. Donations will also accepted at Oddfellows Playhouse between 10am-6pm next week.

Amazing Grace Food Pantry is a program of St. Vincent De Paul Place. Amazing Grace offers food free of charge. Families choose the food items they would like that are available at the time. Family member size determines the quantity of food allotted at each visit. In 2008,
St. Vincent DePaul Place provided approximately 275,000 meals between our Soup Kitchen (Meals and Outreach Program) and our Amazing Grace Food Pantry, or 23,000 meals each month, or 753 meals per day.

Food donations needed

Food Not Bombs is not the only news item related to fighting hunger.

The Amazing Grace Food Pantry has put out a Red Alert that their supplies are unusually low and demand is up. Families in need are eligible to visit once a month to receive food. Last July, 660 families visited the pantry, but this July that number was up to 870 families, and their cupboards are looking bare.

Stop by the pantry at 139 Main Street Extension and donate the following healthy items:

Soup
Cereal
Canned Tuna
Peanut Butter
Canned Fruit and Vegetables

Drop-off times are Mon-Wed-Fri, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Thanks to the United Way for getting this information out there!

Middletown Businesses & Townies Help Hungry People.

The exciting conclusion of the story "Local Architects Feed the Hungry" posted last month. On April 25th the annual CANstruction event held by the CT AIA (American Institute of Architects) took place at the Hartford Convention Center. Sculptures were on display until May 8th free to the public. All items went to the CT Foodshare and respective participating communities, including Amazing Grace Food Pantry of Middletown.
Bianco Giolitto Weston Architects teamed with Bielefield Elementary to create a reading themed sculpture out of over 5,000 cans of food! All food was donated by Middletown residents, or purchased with money given by other businesses in the design field as well as several local Middletown businesses. Money was also raised at a bake sale held by Bielefield students & PTA, as well as a raffle and ice cream social at Coldstone Creamery of Middletown in March. Pratt & Whitney of Middletown also volunteered a 30 ft. box truck and crew to help the designers load the items and transport them to the event. Certainly, a homegrown effort!
This year's sculpture was a scene from the book "The Secret Garden." The design, chosen from sketches done by students featured a 8 ft. tree with tree swing. The back side of the structure featured a 10 ft. wall features a garden wall on one side, and a book cover on the opposite side with words "Sow" and "Grow" spelled in cans. While teachers and designers worked on the tall wall, students made flowers out of powdered drink and soup mixes, featured in the foreground of the scene.
Of four prizes given, the team of designers and students went on to take home a prize for "Best Use of Labels." Six other firms participated, down from the eight to ten that have participated in past years when the economy wasn't in such dire straights, and architectural firms around the state weren't forced to lay-off workers. It was a melancholy day for some at the event, who had hoped to see industry acquaintances, found many had become unemployed.
The BGW/Bielefield team had the most items donated, the largest structure over all, and the youngest team. Most importantly, students, businesses of Main St. and elsewhere, City employees, as well as citizens of Middletown did their community proud showing compassion for the hungry and homeless. Middletown most certainly does care about its needy.

Grange and Grace

The Planning and Zoning Commissioners voted to amend the Zoning Code at their meeting Wednesday night, to allow organizations like Amazing Grace Pantry to run a food distribution center in the Industrial Redevelopment Area (IRA) zone. They also approved the use of the former grange on West Street as a daycare building, and received updates from the Zoning Enforcement Officer about two controversial properties.

Food Distribution Code Change
St. Vincent DePaul Place, a ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Norwich, operates the Amazing Grace Food Pantry and other programs to help the poor. They have been given a generous donation which allows them to purchase a building currently owned by Suburban Stationers on Stack Street in the North End. This building would triple the space available to Amazing Grace, which currently operates out of very cramped quarters on Main Street Extension, near
Stop and Shop. However, food distribution is not currently permitted in the IRA zone. The proposed code change would allow "warehousing and distribution of unprepared food products at no cost to the public for consumption off-site" in the IRA zone.

Ron Krom, executive director of St. Vincent DePaul Place, told the commissioners that Amazing Grace distributed an average of 24,000 food items per month in 2008. He noted that their donations tended to be episodic, and the larger location would allow them to store donated food to be distributed later.

Amazing Grace was forced to turn away a significant amount of rice from Wesleyan (after "The Rice Show"), because they did not have sufficient space to store and re-package the grain.

The owners of many different businesses surrounding the

property to be used by Amazing Grace all expressed their support for the text change, which they felt would enhance the IRA zone.

Mayor Sebastian Giuliano also expressed his suport, "Amazing Grace is one of our success stories... Any time you can help a group like this, you've done what some people call a 'mitzvah'."

About 60 people came to support the application. Krom said that they included supporters, volunteers, and users of the Food Pantry. They cheered every speaker, particularly Betsy Morgan, who spoke as Director of the Middlesex Coalition for Children about the importance of Amazing Grace in relieving hunger and food insecurity among children in Middletown.

The Commissioners passed the text change unanimously, an action that received delighted cheers from everybody in the room.

Adaptive Reuse of a Grange Building.
There is old saying that the most valuable crop a farmer can raise on land today is houses. Since houses usually come with children, it seems particularly fitting that the Mattabesset Farmer's Grange at the corner of Butternut and West Streets has been proposed to be used as a child care facility.

John Milardo applied to operate such a facility as a special exception in the M zone. He proposed a modest expansion of the grange building, and the construction of a parking lot and outdoor playground to accommodate 48 children and the appropriate number of staff.

The Milardo family has already done an enormous amount of work transforming the Grange into a day care and preschool center. They have built new walls inside, they have plans to use the basement for a children's play area, they have replaced all of the original windows, and they have sheathed the exterior in vinyl siding.

At the Commission meeting last night, Milardo presented his design for a children's play area in the rear of the building and a parking lot between the building and West Street, an arrangement that he felt would be safest for the children. Commissioner Catherine Johnson objected to his plan and proposed a different layout for the property, "I have a new plan here that I have copies of for my fellow commissioners." Her plan to put the parking behind the building and the children between the building and the road was not supported by other commissioners.

George Easternal, who lives on West Street did not mind the placement of the parking, but he expressed concerns about the traffic and the safety of cars at the intersection of West and Butternut. Beth Emery expressed her concern that no traffic study was done regarding this issue.

The public comments and discussions by the commissioners led to a few conditions being added to the ultimate approval. Commissioner Borelli expressed his desire for a white vinyl fence surrounding the play area, and Commissioner Bolz suggested narrowing the driveway for the parking lot exit. Commissioners unanimously approved the application with these conditions.

John Milardo's wife told me this morning that the family was elated to get approval. She objected to the idea of a white vinyl fence, because it would destroy the open woodland feel of the corner, but she hoped that a wood fence might not change the character of the corner lot too much.

Bill Warner says there will be testing of Kolman property water after composting begins again.
Bruce Driska, Zoning Enforcement Officer, was asked by Commissioner Carl Bolz about the status of the Higby Road property which has been used for a privately owned leaf composting operation. This operation, run by John Kolman, has taken the city's leaves for the past 15 years. The composting operation has generated a lot of heat at several P&Z meetings, after neighbors complained of violations on the site, and the state Department of Environmental Protection issued Cease and Desist orders to stop the composting business.

Driska said that all of the water tests had returned "unremarkable findings per our health department." Commissioner Ron Borelli asked Planning Director Bill Warner if the property owner would be required to test the water as was required by P&Z when they approved the special exception for the composting operation in 1993. Warner replied, "Once the composting begins again, we will test the water."

Magnolia Returns
Driska reminded the Commissioners of a property that they had approved for a special exception only last October. This property, on Magnolia Road near Farm Hill, was approved for a very large two-family house. Driska said that he had fielded calls from several neighbors who were very upset about the size of the newly constructed house, concerned that it violated the maximum height restrictions of the zoning code. Driska admitted that the walk-out basement in the back gives the house the appearance of a three-story house. However, he said that when measured according to the code, it was only 28 feet tall (code has a maximum of 35 feet).

Driska reminded the commissioners that they had expressed misgivings about the building in their discussions, and suggested that they should have acted on those misgivings (only Commissioner Johnson and former Commissioner Matt Lesser voted against the application).

Warner pointed out that the same house on a different lot would not seem out of place. There was a brief discussion about the importance and the difficulty of writing zoning laws that lead to coherent and attractive neighborhoods.

Quiet Affairs
The Commissioners dealt with their Commission Affairs quickly and quietly last night. The election of a chair was postponed to the next meeting and Borelli gave a quick report on the committee charged with revision of the Bylaws. Johnson thanked Borelli for coming to her session on the Plan of Conservation and Development last Thursday, which dealt with farmland and other open space in Middletown. Johnson said the next session would be on May 21st, and deal with transportation issues.

Finally, Johnson suggested that the Commission invite the town planner of Hamden, Leslie Creane, to speak at their May 13th meeting. Creane is expected to speak about the principles of Smart Growth, which the city of Hamden is in the process of putting into their Plan of Conservation and Development. This suggestion was endorsed by the Commission.

Follow up to "Local Architects help feed the Hungry"

Here are some follow-up are pictures from Tuesday night's fundraiser at Coldstone Creamery in Middletown, owned by Priscilla Harnst; details about the cause can be found in the previous post "Local Architects help the Hungry"

Above, Architect Jeff Bianco, Bielefield Elementary principal Renata Lantos, and Mayor Sebastian Giuliano try their hands at scooping ice cream. From 6-9pm Riverview Plaza was bustling with students handing out flyers the detailing cause.

Inside, education Curriculum Director John Hennely took over for some of the BGW design staff and helped to sell raffle tickets for a year of free Coldstone ice cream, donated by Harnst , proceeds from which also went to CANstruction. Pictured above Karma and Margaret Masselli shown with raffle tickets. Ron Krom, of Amazing Grace food pantry stopped by for a bite, and to show his support. Plans are underway for Krom to speak in person to the Bielefield students on the importance of giving back to one's community & what food pantries do.

Much of the food collected by BGW & Bielefield ends up at Amazing Grace. The lucky winner was Alan Whalen, of Middletown.  

A Generous Business Owner

I came across this picture on the web the other day and thought I would share it with the readers. The picture is of Marc Levine, owner of Mallove's Jewelers on Main Street and a big check for Middletown's Amazing Grace Food Pantry. I do not believe the local newspapers covered this gracious donation; and I feel its especially important to acknowledge and give thanks to people's generosity in a time of economic recession to inspire others to continue to contribute to the common good. Mr. Levine  is humble enough to go under the radar; none the less here's a big thank-you to his business's generous donation!   And who said diamonds were only a girl's only best friend?

Amazing Grace Grinder Fundraiser

From Rochelle Hughes, a report of a fundraiser for the Amazing Grace Food Pantry sponsored by St. Francis of Assisi Church and The Italian American Civic Order.

That's a lot of Peanut Butter

I was reading Michael Roth's blog at Wesleyan this morning and saw that Wesleyan students did a fundraiser for the Amazing Grace Food Pantry, with a whopping total of $11,000 in food.

Wow.

I talked to Ron Krom, the director of Amazing Grace Food Pantry (and the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen), and learned a little more about the donation. He said this ranks as one of the 2 or 3 biggest donations of food that they will receive during the year. This donation is a little different than a regular food drive. Instead of donating cans of food, the students fasted for one day and donated the cost of that day's meals directly from their student accounts -- so Amazing Grace can now use those funds to purchase food -- at distributor prices, not at retail -- from the Weshop. This means that the pantry can decide when and what they need -- if they're a little short on Peanut Butter one month, they can just order it from Weshop.

I learned a little more about the food pantry's operations from Ron. Currently there are about 660 families that come once a month to get food from Amazing Grace (which is up 10% from this time last year). That adds up to about 1000 adults, 500 children, and 200 seniors every month.   Each household can get 3 days worth of food -- breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Amazing Grace gets about half of their food supplies from the CT Food Bank, a centralized food pantry that distributes throughout New Haven and Middlesex Counties. And they get the other half through a program that they developed called "Families Feeding Families". This effort pools the food donations of churches, businesses, social clubs -- you name it -- who pledge to donate a certain amount of certain staple items each month. (At South Church we call ourselves "The Tunafish Church" -- we commit to donating at least 100 cans a month.) This smart program, which maximizes the impact of the community's generosity, is coordinated by the always-involved -citizen-volunteers Nancy Meyer and Mimi Rich.

Ron was just blown away by how much the Wesleyan fundraiser grew from its first year -- when it brought in $4,400 in food.   He talked about how moving it was to join hundreds of students as they broke the fast at the Usdan Center, with a line stretching out of the building, and how he then got the chance to talk to them about hunger and homelessness in Middletown.  This has already brought some new Wes volunteers into his organization.  

The idea for the fundraiser came to Wesleyan through a student, Nadeem Modan, class of 2010.  The "Fast-a-thon" coincides with Ramadan, the traditional Muslim month-long fast, and the fundraiser was an interfaith event that involved students and staff of all religions (or none at all.) Nadeem should be proud -- he did a wonderful thing for all the people who will be fed by Amazing Grace, and for those of us who are inspired by his vision!

If you know of a group that might like to make monthly contributions to Amazing Grace's "Families Feeding Families" program, you can email Ron at ron.krom@sbcglobal.net.

New plans for Polish National Club

Bob Spencer, chairman of the board of directors of St. Vincent de Paul Place said the board has expressed interest in purchasing the former Polish National Club on High Street as the new headquarters of the Amazing Grace Food Pantry. The building would not be the site of housing or meal preparation. Spencer explained that the current economy has driven many families to seek food at the pantry, including many families who have been considered "working class and middle class." The pantry currently services more than 600 households each month.

St. Vincent de Paul Place runs the current Amazing Grace Food Pantry on Main Street Extension, as well as a soup kitchen on Main Street, and the management of supportive housing at Liberty Commons, on Main Street.

Spencer welcomes public comment on his organization's plans.