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Thank you to everyone who took the time to come by 125 Park Avenue and hear a little more about our plans. As of this writing, we are still waiting for the City to issue the permits we need to begin work. A lot of departments need to sign off! But we are getting there. |
In the meantime, we are continuing to tweak the design, and touring VIPs, potential donors and other interested parties through the site. Our plans have also been featured in a recent Food Bank News article focussing on pantries recommitting to client choice. | Mayor Roberto Alves takes the tour |
| Quick Poll! Should we keep the "broken down" brick wall? | | | *Hint: This is the wrong answer. | | |
Just in time for summer getaways, we've received hundreds of Little Passports suitcases. These adorable boxes come filled with books, games and other activities - making learning about far-off places fun and exciting! We'll be giving them out over the next couple of months. Big thanks to Little Passports, United Way and M&T Bank for making it happen! | |
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Above, Britt, Britt's daughter Vivian, and Faith made the delivery in a U-Haul!
Below, some of our very happy recipients!!
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We had a booth at this year's Danbury Street Festival! As well as lots of information about Daily Bread, our booth featured a ton of giveaways, prizes, and a host of friendly volunteers. |
In his second newsletter appearance, Mayor Alves stopped by to join the fun. | | |
Festival-goers received the full Gladys treatment! | |
We raffled off an air fryer! Debbie presents it to the lucky winner. | |
Food Policy Council Visit | |
At the end of June, we welcomed members of Connecticut's Food Policy Council to the pantry. The distinguished group included State Senator Julie Kushner and Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt, who heads Connecticut's Department of Agriculture. The Food Policy Council's mission is "to develop, coordinate, and implement a state-wide food policy that links economic development, environmental protection, and preservation with farming and urban issues." We are a part of all that! | |
As usual, we had plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables on hand - including some amazing locally grown produce. Commisioner Hurlburt (at left) was suitably impressed! | |  |
Squeezing 15 or 16 folks into the pantry on top of all that healthy food was a bit of a challenge. So after a quick tour we repaired to the Church's library for a presentation about our work. | | | |
Our presentation to the Food Policy Council was just one of several we have made recently. It's been our version of Taylor Swift's Eras tour, if she only played in Danbury. |
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Instead of catchy tunes and dancers, a Daily Bread show features philosophical inquiries into the meaning of food insecurity, and a lot of PowerPoint slides. Unaccountably, the shows play to smaller crowds than Swifty's.
But don't let that put you off! Admission is always free and sometimes refreshments are provided, if you stay to the end. Our next gig is at the Danbury Public Library on July 30. Just for fun, if you click the button below you can win free tickets to see either Taylor Swift OR the Daily Bread show.*
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*Odds of winning Taylor Swift tickets are less than 1,000,000,000,000,000,000:1. | | |
Stop & Shop/NBC Food Drive | The Danbury Street Festival just happened to be on the same day as our biggest food drive of the year. Which meant we needed thousands of volunteers to staff up the two events. Well, perhaps not thousands, but a lot. As always, the Daily Bread team came through and both events were a great success. Thank you to everyone who pitched in and gave up their Saturday to help out. | | |
Helen, Mark and Patty after stuffing the van with the day's amazing haul | |
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Earlier this month we welcomed Emanuela Palmares to our Board of Directors. Emanuela is a co-founder of The New American Dream Foundation, and has held leadership positions at many local and state-wide community support organizations.
Fun fact - Emanuela spent part of her childhood growing up on Terrace Place!
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We didn't delay putting Emanuela to work. Here she is with equally persuasive volunteer Guen explaining the many benefits of working at the pantry. Many thanks to Newtown Savings Bank for organizing this event. | |
Say cheese! Or more accurately, say Parmigiano-Reggiano. Thank you to Stew Leonard's for 300+ pounds of Italy's finest, and to Food Rescue US for hooking us up. Here Alison from Stew's helps load the van. | |
An apple a day doesn't always keep the doctor away, so it's great to supplement our fresh, nutritious food with tips about other ways to stay well. A big thank you to Danbury's Health & Human Services Department for swinging by and providing our guests with all sorts of great information and resources to keep healthy. | |
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LASTLY...
WE WILL BE CLOSED ON JULY 5!
Because one day really isn't enough to celebrate dumping those pesky Brits!
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Sign up for important alerts and breaking news about the pantry. Text "TEAM" to 844-664-1114 | | | | |
