Residents Help Community in Need

Seen in photo: Officer Craig Appleby (SRO at HMS), Officer William Onofrio, and Chief John Cappiello

Hamden COVID Support Community Food & Supplies Donation Drive

Monday 4/20, Wednesday 4/22, Friday 4/24

9:00am to 12:00pm

Hamden Middle School Parking Lot

April 20th, 2020

by Diana Natti Theriault

This morning was the first of three food and cloth mask collections at Hamden Middle School. The drive, coordinated by the Town of Hamden and Hamden Public Schools, is collecting supplies for the Keefe Community Center and Miller Senior Center food pantries.

The day started with a bit of a snag; the box truck being used to collect the donations was held up on a delivery for the food bank. When I arrived at 10:30, the truck had arrived, and was already filling up. As I stood (safely distanced) talking to Chief Cappiello, about six cars drove up to the donation site. Residents seemed happy to be able to help, in any small way, to provide care and comfort for those in need. So many in our community are struggling, and this drive allows those with the ability, an easy, safe way to help.

While there, you can also pick up a "Thank You" lawn sign, to show your support for Hamden First Responders and Medical Professionals. If you are unable to make it to the drive, but would still like a sign, you may request that a sign be dropped off using the SeeClickFix portal at Hamden.com/seeclickfix and select "Request a Sign" under the Hamden-COVID-19 section.

Mayor Leng commented in a facebook post "Hamden is working together as a community for health and safety by staying apart, and it's helping slow the spread. We're very thankful that there are so many generous and good hearted people that want to help."

The Keefe and Senior Center food pantries welcome all non-perishable food donations, but are hoping to have extra donations of the following:

• Cereal

• Pancake Mix

• Hash

• Grits

• Oatmeal

• Milk (shelf stable such as Parmalat, dried, evaporated)

• Rice

• Canned Fruit/Fruit Cups

• Peanut Butter

• Crackers

• Hearty Soups

For those in need of support, please see our Community Assistance tab for a list of food pantries and services.