United Way of Greater New Haven packs grocery bags for public school families

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) – It is spring break for many school districts in the state and although school is out, a group of about 60 volunteers in New Haven is not relaxing.

They are packing bags full of groceries because no school this week means no free school meals for low-income children.

“So, to help with that, we are hosting a school break food pantry, where we are packing roughly a week’s worth of groceries for those students and their families,” said Dennis Velasquez, Volunteer Manager for the United Way of Greater New Haven.

The United Way of Greater New Haven is running the event and it is staffed with volunteers like Dorothy Tolchin.

“I really am amazed by the power of community,” Tolchin said. “How so many individuals come together to produce something larger than any individual one of us could do on our own.”

It takes a few dozen individuals to pack up 1,200 bags in one morning. Each bag includes fresh produce, which is so important for growing kids. The United Way gets all this food in a bunch of different ways.

“From fundraising campaigns, the United Way has held to CT Food Share, who has helped us secure some of the other food items that we will be giving out today,” Velasquez said.

The bags get trucked out to four different distribution locations. There are no requirements and no signups.

There is a huge need for food, however, federal COVID-19 funds have dried up and inflation has driven up the cost of all this food.

“In Connecticut, we have about 14% of the population who experiences food insecurity,” said Lisa Levy, the Program Coordinator for the Loaves & Fishes food pantry. “When you get to greater New Haven, that number increases to about 22%.”

The vast majority of those struggling with food insecurity have school-aged children. The United Way and its partners will be back doing the same thing again in late August when there’s a gap between summer food programs and the beginning of the school year.

If you would like to volunteer and help out the United Way of Greater New Haven, visit their website .

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