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Person-to-Person has been the designated recipient of grocery donations collected in Darien during the annual National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive. Beginning last year, donations from people in Norwalk and Wilton were collected to benefit the P2P Emergency Food Pantry in Norwalk.
In all, P2P received more than 76,000 pounds of groceries last year to stock the two food pantries and for distribution to several partner agencies (Domestic Violence Crisis Center, Open Door Shelter, St. Vincent de Paul, Homes with Hope, Malta House, Salvation Army and the Mid-Fairfield AIDS Project), according to a press release.
This event is the largest food drive for Person-to-Person each year and requires a fair amount of preparation and coordination, Director of Volunteers Janet King said in the release.
“We appreciate all the generosity, whether it’s the folks who leave a bag of groceries by the mailbox or the family that helps stock the shelves,” said King. “Because this is so very important for the people who come to us for food.”
With nearly nine percent of Fairfield County residents living below the poverty level, "hunger and food insecurity is an issue that many in our communities are dealing with," representatives said.
King said that one in 10 families has struggled to find the next meal and that the rate of food insecurity among children is even higher, at one in six.
“Each week, we provide more than 200 families with enough food to prepare three meals a day for seven days, because no one in Fairfield County should have to be hungry," King said.
Those interested in volunteering are asked to email Janet King in Darien (jking@p2pHelps.org) or Ed Kearns in Norwalk (edkearns@p2pHelps.org).
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