West Hartford Schoolchildren To March To Town Hall With Food Aid

Town of West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Local elementary schoolchildren on Thursday will be seen traipsing through town to deliver much-needed food to help the food-insecure.

Morley Elementary schoolchildren in grades K-2 will make their annual 1.22-mile trip to West Hartford Town Hall with their red wagons laden with non-perishable food for the West Hartford Food Pantry.

They will be doing so on Thursday, Nov. 13, with a rain date of Nov. 20.

At 9:30 a.m., schoolchildren, teachers, parents, and MES Principal Ryan Cleary will congregate outside at the main entrance of West Hartford Town Hall.

This is the 31st year of the Morley School Red Wagon Food Drive.

"Their donations significantly boost West Hartford’s food pantry stock, and the town is grateful for the many years of generosity," wrote the town.

The West Hartford Food Pantry offers immediate and meaningful support to families in crisis.

Each year, the food pantry distributes thousands of bags of food to West Hartford residents in need.

With rising fuel and food costs, this winter will be critical for lower-income households, a situation made worse by the federal government shutdown and the limiting (if not ceasing) of federal SNAP food assistance benefits.

The food pantry has responded to this need thus far thanks to the generosity of its residents, schools, faith communities, and businesses.

The pantry’s greatest needs are canned fruit/applesauce, pasta and sauce, cold cereal and oatmeal, canned chicken, tuna, and meat, rice (1 to 2-pound packages), peanut butter (16-18 oz. jars.), soup, macaroni and cheese, canned ravioli, chili and baked beans, pasta mixes, cooking oil, juice, snacks (cookies, granola bars, cake and brownie mixes, frosting, pudding cups, etc.), toothpaste, toilet paper, soap, and feminine hygiene products.

Food donations can be dropped off in the West Hartford Town Hall lobby at the Customer Service Desk, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Financial contributions may be sent to Town That Cares, 50 South Main Street, Room 130, West Hartford, CT 06107.

For more information on donating food or how you can help, contact Tullulah Pickens at Tullulah.Pickens@westhartfordct.gov or (860) 561-7572. You may learn more about the West Hartford Food Pantry by visiting https://www.westhartfordct.gov/town-departments/social-services/food-pantry.