Seeks donations for New Milford food bank

To the Editor:

The lovely, lazy, crazy days of summer are here. For some, they are also hungry days.

With children home full time, parents who struggle financially are challenged to keep their kids well fed.

The school breakfast and lunch programs are not available and families are hard pressed to make up the difference.

Nationally, since the "great recession" of 2009, one in three children has participated in school lunch programs.

In New Milford, the SNAP (or "food stamp") program saw an increase of 132 percent between 2007 and 2010, and rose another 21 percent by the end of 2011.

We do mirror the national situation here, and our fellow residents need your help.

Please support the food bank during these summer months when many of our traditional donors (the schools, churches, civic groups) are on hiatus from conducting food drives.

We would be happy to help you organize a Saturday morning food drive at one of our local grocers (we have signs and instructions).

Our office is open every weekday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to accept any and all donations. Items most needed are tuna and other canned meats, pasta and sauce, peanut butter and jelly, canned soup and fruit, cereal, crackers, juice and macaroni cheese.

Finally, let us do the shopping. You can send a donation to New Milford Food Bank and we will use it to purchase goods locally.

Let's aim for "no children (or adults, for that matter) going to bed hungry" in New Milford this summer.

Peg Molina

Director

Social Services

New Milford