Halloween Concert

Valley Students Give Back

SHELTON – On May 13^th, a group of 4^th and 5^th grade students from St. Joseph’s School made a special delivery to help feed those in need in the Valley.

Students met up with a Peapod delivery truck at the Spooner House in Shelton, where they helped unload a $250 grocery donation they pieced together on behalf of Peapod’s “Kids Give Back” program.

Peapod’s “Kids Give Back Program” is designed to teach students about nutrition, shopping on a budget and how to use this knowledge to give back to local food banks.  Peapod.com, the country’s leading online grocer, challenged St. Joseph’s 4^th and 5^th grade classrooms to utilize a $250 donation from Peapod to create a delivery order of the most nutritious foods possible. The students used nutrition and budgeting lessons to put together a complete Peapod.com order which they delivered to the Spooner House Food Bank, located at 30 Todd Rd.

Peapod is committed to helping its neighbors in need. Moreover, Peapod is pleased to encourage the next generation to give back to the community and help instill healthy eating and budgeting lessons at an early age through their “Kids Give Back” program.

Local Knights of Columbus Help Feed Needy

Father James Sullivan (far left) of Assumption Church in Ansonia joins Deacon Larry Yergeau (far right) with members of the Knights of Columbus, who recently held a food drive during Lent where more than 500 cans of food was collected. The food will be delivered to the S. Vincent DePaul Food Bank to help those in need.

Derby City Hall Collecting for Food Bank

DERBY - Derby City Hall is collecting canned food during the month of March for the St. Vincent DePaul Food Bank.

 

This month, donations of canned beef stew are being collected (Dinty Moore or any other brand). According to Town/City Clerk Marc Garofalo, donations can be dropped off at City Hall or the food bank itself, located at 237 Roosevelt Dr. 

 

During the month of February, City Hall collected 44 jars of mayonnaise and another 10 jars of jelly for the food bank.

 

City Hall, in lieu of a Holiday Secret Santa Gift, donated food to the St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry in December. After discussions with the operators of the Food Bank, Garofalo said city officials  asked them for monthly suggestions for food collections to concentrate on what is in short supply.  Garofalo said City Hall employees decided to start a monthly collection of one specific item to help the food bank feed those in need in Derby and the Valley.  In January, City Hall collected jars of jelly and in February, jars of mayonnaise were collected.

 

Food bank officials said a great deal of canned beef stew is used, especially during the colder months.

 

"Please consider donating some cans of beef stew and bringing them to the Town / City Clerk’s Office by the end of March and we will deliver them." said Garofalo.

(This is a press release from Derby City Hall)  

Residents 'generous' in donating to Spooner House in Shelton

Collection surpasses goal
In a press release today, Spooner House executive director Susan Agamy said, "The 12th annual Valley Has a Heart Spooner House food collection held Saturday at three Stop & Shop stores in the Lower Naugatuck Valley proved residents here are generous, despite the rough winter we have all experienced. We were over our goal by more than $1,850."

Stop & Shop, the event's marquee sponsor, along with site sponsors Daniel Jacobs, LLC of Oxford and Dworken, Hillman, LaMorte & Sterczala, PC of Shelton, contributed $2,850.  

The Spooner House Food Bank received 51 shopping cart loads of food from all three Stop & Shop sites and the cash collected was just under $2,000.  Totals were:

Ansonia – 13 carts of food; $439.20

Seymour – 16 carts of food; $530.13

Shelton – 22 carts of food; $988.48

The goal was to gather enough non-perishable food to last for at least two months and $3,000 to use for restocking the shelves as needed during the cold winter months. 
Check out the Spooner House website linked above for a list of the most-needed food items.

Non-profit Area Congregations Together, Inc. was formed in 1979 to help fill gaps in the Naugatuck Valley’s social service network. 
Today, Spooner House is operated by ACT and is a facility that provides food, shelter and support services to approximately 200 men, women and children each year.  More than 6,000 individuals have been served by the Food Bank this past year, comprising more than 130,000 meals. 

Spooner House is recognized as one of the most comprehensive emergency shelter programs in Connecticut and through its food bank provides a week’s supply of groceries each month to participating families throughout the Naugatuck Valley. 
Spooner House is devoted to helping people establish self-sufficiency in an atmosphere of respect and dignity. 


This is taken from a press release from Area Congregations Together, Inc., a partner agency of the Valley United Way.

Seymour commission to host free concert

SEYMOUR - Join the Seymour Culture and Arts Commission for a night out featuring a favorite local band, The Starving Artists, from 7-9 p.m. Feb. 15 at Seymour Middle School, 211 Mountain Road.

This well-known, Valley-based ensemble will play hits
from the '50s, '60s, and '70s.

The concert is free, but those attending are asked to bring a non-perishable food item for the local food bank (most needed items are pancake mix, syrup, peanut butter, minute rice, apple sauce and condiments.) 

For questions or more information call Kim, 203-888-7880.

This is a press release from the Seymour Culture and Arts Commission. 

Food bank in Shelton needs assistance

Spooner House Food Bank levels are low.

Please help us this summer fulfill the needs in our community.

With children home for the summer and not receiving school lunches, families are struggling more than ever to put food on the table.

Spooner House is committed to helping families and individuals in need throughout our community, and we need your help to make sure none of our neighbors go hungry this summer.

Items Most Needed:

Peanut Butter and Jelly
Tuna
Soups
Beans (kidney, pinto, black)
Pasta
Sauce
Crackers

Please consider donating today!

Every dollar counts and goes to support our work in feeding our neighbors in need through Spooner House's food bank!

 

 This is a press release from Spooner House Homeless Shelter, 30 Todd Road, Shelton.

Car show at Derby doughnut shop stocks Shelton food bank

DERBY - My husband and I took in a car show Sunday at Heav'nly Donuts on Route 34.

Fortunately for the organizers it was a sunny afternoon.

The event helped to stock the shelves at the Valley Food Bank at Spooner House homeless shelter in Shelton. 

We were happy to make our small donation to such a worthy cause.

It appears a lot of people turned out and gave what they could.

The customized wood-paneled Crosley station wagon was complete with a smiling Woody Woodpecker.

Let's hope it was filled with food when the event was over. 

Here's another diminutive Crosley station wagon. Funky, isn't it?

This '55 Ford Fairlane sedan caught my eye...

 

as did this bright blue Crosley. This can't be the original color!

I'm looking forward to some more warm-weather car shows in the Valley. Are you?

Oxford church to hold service of Lessons and Carols

OXFORD - There will be a service of Lessons and Carols at 3 p.m. Dec. 16 at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 421 Oxford Road. 

The community is invited. Light refreshments will be served. 
Please bring an item of non-perishable food to share with the Seymour-Oxford Food Bank. 
For information call 203-888-6388.