A Huge

"Thank You"

from all of us at the

Enfield Food Shelf !!!

HAPPY

2009

Like Santa's elves, our volunteers are hard at work sorting all of the holiday items.

CHRISTMAS BASKET DRIVE

Volunteers worked tirelessly to prepare for our annual Christmas Basket distribution day.  We distributed food to 427 families.  This included turkeys, special holiday fixings, bacon, butter, and cookie trays.  Also, lucky families won holiday prizes in the Christmas raffle.  And, we arranged for 20 families to be adopted for Christmas.  Enfield families provided gifts and goodies for their adopted families.  All of this was made possible through the outpouring of generous food and monetary donations from the community and the incredible efforts of our volunteers to prepare and distribute the holiday foods.

Some of the volunteers separate the items and fill the boxes.

Other volunteers move the boxes of food items to the storage area.

To the holiday rescue ...

Fire Chief Macsata (2nd from left) and fellow fireman along with the Shaker Pines Lake Association deliver 1000 pounds of food, collected as the decorated fire truck drove through the neighborhoods.

Comcast workers spread joy ...

Maureen (center) and her Comcast coworkers donate 500 pounds of food and trays of cookies, which they baked, to be given to our senior citizen recipients.

St. Adalbert's "Little Angels"

Linda Bridge, Executive Director, explains the importance of helping others to the "Little Angels" of St. Adalbert's preschool class.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas..."

The "Little Angels" sing a holiday song after donating hats and mittens, collected from their "giving tree," for our families.

The Spirit of the Season ...

Bill Guzie (2nd from left), owner of Bill's Landscaping (Enfield, CT), and his employees donate 53 turkeys and 458 pounds of food.

E. H. S. DECA Club spreads holiday cheer ...

The officers of the Enfield High School DECA Club present a $1000 check to Linda Bridge, Executive Director, at a school assembly.

Brownie Elves ...

Members of Genille Willis' Brownie troop create colorful holiday decorations on the the holiday bags.

Brownie Workshop ...

The Brownie elves and their mommy helpers create designs prior to setting up the 465 holiday bags in preparation for their being filled.

The holiday bags are ready ...

The Brownie elves check the holiday bags one final time.

The Elves of Troop 392 ...

A  member of Boy Scout Troop 392 prepares to fill the 465 holiday bags with holiday fixings and goodies.

Pat Zwerling, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) Outreach volunteer, answers questions about the program during a recent visit to our facility. 

Steve Zwerling, SNAP Outreach volunteer, prepares the forms necessary for enrollment in the program.  The goal of the Foodshare project is to provide information about SNAP in order to increase the number of participants in the program.

Giving with thanks ...

Linda Goguen, Muriel Trinque, and a Hallmark volunteer (left   to right) fill a client's request for a variety of foods.

The Perfect Turkey ...

Dick Fournier (left) and Mike Tippo (right) assist a client as he searches for the perfect turkey.

A New Volunteer ...

Mike Tippo (right), Vice-President, welcomes Congressman Joe Courtney (left), our newest volunteer.

Handling the Turkeys ...

Bill Kweder (right) shows Representative Karen Jarmoc (left) the best method for handling the frozen turkeys.

Volunteers ...

Hundreds of volunteers work to sort the donations.

Volunteers ...

Teen volunteers pack potatoes.

Enfield Town Councilmen

Councilman Jason Jones, Mayor Scott Kaupin, and Councilman Ken Nelson (not pictured) deliver 12 "frozen friends" donated by the Town Council.  The councilmen and the mayor assisted with the sorting of foods and the delivery of turkeys to Pioneer Cold Storage (Chicopee, MA).

Enfield Board of Education

Board members Charles Johnson (left) and Thomas Arnone deliver 12 turkeys donated by the Board of Education, Superintendent John Gallacher, and Assistant Superintendent Anthony Torre.

Enfield EMS with Turkeys

Phil Fleury, Ben Fox, Mike Hafey, Scott Schaub, and Karen Vak donate boxes of food and many frozen turkeys.

Thank You AAA Aircraft

Charlene Goulet (left) and Charles Asselin (right) of AAA Aircraft Supply present a donation to Linda Bridge, Executive Director.

Enrico Fermi High School Arrives

Members of the Enrico Fermi High School National Honor Society bring donations.

JFK's "Penny War"

JFK Student Council representatives presented checks of $858 to Linda Bridge, our Executive Director (2nd left), Priscilla Brayson (far right) and Murray Brayson (1st left) of Loaves and Fishes, and The Little Sisters of the Poor.

John F. Kennedy Middle School

Tim Neville, Principal, and Guy Bourassa, faculty member, unload 36 turkeys donated by the JKF Middle School faculty and staff.  Mr. Neville also presented a sizable monetary contribution from the faculty and staff.

The Teacher and the Principal

After delivering the JFK Middle School donations, Mr. Bourassa and Mr. Neville assisted with the unloading of contributions and delivered a truck load of turkeys to Pioneer Cold Storage (Chicopee, MA).

"Little Angels" on the March

The "Little Angels" from St. Adalbert's preschool march with donations in a costume parade.

Singing "Five Little Pumpkins"

The "Little Angels" and their parents and teachers sing "Five Little Pumpkins" as they parade with their bags of donations.

Mr. Carey's Neighborhood

Brandon Carey unloads food donations collected through his project.  Brandon distributed leaflets throughout his neighborhood as a member of St. Adalbert's Confirmation group.  In response, Brandon's neighbors donated 306 pounds of food. 

Jacqueline's Project

Jacqulyn Green wanted to help, so she collected donations of  food in her neighborhood.

Kariden Electric Contributes

Alan Lanouette (back), owner of Kariden Electric, receives boxes of frozen turkeys from David Abar (front) to be transported to Pioneer Cold Storage (Chicopee, MA).

Kariden's Turkey Express

Alan Lanouette and the "turkey express" truck were available for deliveries throughout the week.

Turkeys, Turkeys, Turkeys ...

     Carts of frozen turkeys wait to be stored in freezers.

Thanksgiving Bags to be Filled ...

500 plus bags, prepared by Stepping Stones Early Learning Center (Enfield, CT), await filling with Thanksgiving "goodies."

Girl Scouts in action ...

Members of a Girl Scout Troops 10343 and 10350, their leaders, and parents check the bags.

Job well done ....

The group of Girl Scouts celebrate the completion of their tasks.

Boy Scouts in action

Members of a Boy Scout Troop 108 with their leader and parents deliver 1400 pounds of food collected in their drive.

Troop 108 donates $500

Also, the scouts present a $500 donation to Linda Bridge, Executive Director.

The Montesorri School Helps

Students carry the food donations to be loaded.

Packing the SUV

Montesorri students load the SUV with food.

The Montesorri Teachers Pitch In

Teachers unload the hundreds of pounds of food.

Turkeys ala Montesorri

Montesorri students load the SUV with food.

E. H. Parkman School Pride

Linda Bridge, Executive Director, presents the "Golden Turkey" trophy to the Parkman student representatives.  The students and faculty collected 1480 pounds of food.

Ms. Giannini's Class Leads the Way

Ms. Giannini's class (pictured above) collected the most food, 459 items, during the E. H. Parkman drive.  Mrs. Wasileski's class donated 257 items, and Ms. Guertin's students gave 236 items. 

The Guard is with us...

MSgt. Phil Vashington (left) and other Connecticut Air National Guardsmen unload turkeys with another volunteer.

Mission accomplished...

After unloading hundreds of frozen turkeys, MSgt. Vashington (2nd from left) talks with Mike Tippo (1st from left), a fellow Guardsman (3rd from left), Linda Bridge (4th from left) and Alan Lanouette (5th from left).

The Reverend John B. O'Connell Council 14600 Knights of Columbus - St. Martha Parish

Grand Knight Raymond Bishop (2nd from left) with Jim Breslin (far left) and Tom Joaquim (far right) present  a $ 400 donation to Linda Bridge, Executive Director.

Chicago Sam's Donates

Bob Caravello (left), co-owner of Chicago Sam's, donates and delivers 76 turkeys.  Helping Bob are George Colli (center) and Enfield Mayor Scott Kaupin (right).

Calvary Presbyterian Church Youth Group Gives

Members of the Youth group present Linda Bridge (center) with a donation and turkeys.

Enfield Women's Club with Donations

Members of the Enfield Women's Club donate turkeys and food.

Catie Gives Thanks

Catie Thomas(right), age 9, gives her turkey donation to Linda Bridge.

Enfield Junior Women's Club with Donations

Members of the Enfield Junior Women's Club donate turkeys and food.

We're computerized ...

United Way of North Central Hartford County Grant

     With the assistance of State Representative Karen Jarmoc, we received a United Way grant of $7445 to purchase 3 computers, software, 3 printers, internet connection, and a web site design.  Lindsey and Michael Weber, co-owners of Minuteman Press (Enfield, CT) donated a 4th computer.  This will facilitate the recording of data as we provide services to our families.

     In addition to the technology, the grant provides funds for remodeling and renovating the food distribution room.

We're on the Web

Linda Bridge (Matt's mom) and Matt McEwen of Developmental Marketing (Casselberry, FL) look at the web site his firm designed for us at a generous discount.

Computers networked

Garry Tallis, owner of Network Engineering Services (Enfield, CT), installed and networked computers and software at a substantial discount.

Fore !!!

(left to right) Mike Cotnoir, Mayor Scott Kaupin, and David Wawer pause for a photo opt prior to chasing their birdies and pars.

Golfers donate golf benefit proceeds.

Brandon Abate, Greg Stokes, and Ed Mastella, organizers of the benefit golf tournament held at Grassmere Country Club, present a $2000 donation to Linda Bridge, Executive Director.

Mass Mutual offers "Life Bridge."

Eric Skar, Mass Mutual representative, prepares to distribute information and explain "Life Bridge," a free life insurance policy available to qualified individuals.

Fall

Al of Grower's Direct donated hundreds of mums for our recipient families.

Spring Splash

Canoes splash down the Scantic River.

Our new sign...

Little John's Sign Factory (Enfield, CT) designed, created, installed, and donated our new sign.

Fill the Boat

Overflowing donations in the boat at Nathan Hale School.

Brendan Albetski's "Rock for Food" Benefit Rock Concert

Concert goers rock to one of the bands performing at the benefit concert, hosted by Brendan and his band,"Flip Greencat."

Freda Adams stands with her grandson after singing the invocation.

The Volunteers

Town Recognition

Cindy Mangini, Town Councilwoman, presents a town proclamation of recognition for our volunteerism to Linda Bridge.

Chili Pepper, Executive Director

Enjoying the Cookoff

Kathy and "Mad" Mike Freedman, Organizers

Bill McGurk and Rocky of Rockville Bank applaud the winning Chili Chicks.

25,000+ pounds of food was collected.

Bob Frederick (right) and other volunteers unload some of the thousands of pounds of food.

Nick Vamvilis, owner (center), presents a donation from the benefit tournament to Bob Linehan and Linda Bridge.

Nick Vamvilis (2nd from left) and John Vamvilis (5th from left) present donations to Priscilla Brayson, Director (3rd from left), and Murray Brayson, President (4th from left), of Loaves and Fishes, and to Dee Stathers, Director of the 5 Corners Cupboard.

Special July 4th Food

Julie Cotnoir (left) and daughter Haley distribute holiday foods.