The effort relies on the public’s generosity and volunteers from police, fire and emergency medical agencies, along with Rotary Club members and Stop & Shop and Geissler’s supermarkets. Collections benefit clients of soup kitchens and food pantries, including those run by Manchester Area Conference of Churches Charities and the Hockanum Valley Community Council.
Items needed, in particular, include canned vegetables, condiments, sugar, flour, coffee, tea and cocoa. Cash donations and gift cards also are welcome, food drive spokesman Patrick Gleason of Ambulance Service of Manchester said.
Last year, the drive netted 31,276 food items, 675 turkeys and cash and gift card donations totaling about $16,000. Each year, participating agencies challenge each other to collect the most donations. Losers this year have agreed to work at the winner’s food pantry or soup kitchen, Gleason said.
Collections are set for:
_ Friday and Saturday and Nov. 17 and 18 at Manchester Stop & Shop, 286 Broad St., from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day;
_ Stop & Shop in Vernon, 10 Pitkin Road, Nov. 17 and 18, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day;
_ Stop & Shop in the Rockville section of Vernon, 50 Windsorville Road, Nov. 17 and 18, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day;
_ Stop & Shop in South Windsor, 1739 Ellington Road, Nov. 17 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
_ And Geissler’s Supermarket, South Windsor, 965 Sullivan Ave., Nov. 17 and 18, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
MANCHESTER – The 10th Annual “Emergency of Hunger” Food Drive, composed of first responders, Rotary members, and others, was a great success! Their combined efforts continue to make a deep and widening impact on hunger in greater Hartford. This year volunteers from Manchester, Vernon, and South Windsor collected 28,000+ food items, 850+ turkeys, and $15,000 in gift card and monitory donations. Please click here to read Contact Reporter Jesse Leavenworth’s article in the Hartford Courant!
