Cheshire Food Drive Produces Another Good Year

November 17, 2009 by Josh Morgan

It was another successful weekend for the Cheshire Food Drive as thousands of items were received over a two-day period on the green.
Last Saturday and Sunday, volunteers helped unload vehicles, sort donations, and pack up a large truck with canned goods and non-perishable items. For the 36th year, members of the community staged a two-day collection on the green in the heart of Cheshire to help stock the shelves of the Cheshire Food Pantry.
“It was very good,” said Food Drive volunteer Tom Scannell. “It was very successful. I think we had more volunteers this year than we’ve ever had.”
The weather cooperated and felt more like the first weekend in October than November, which Scannell said alarmed some food drive members. The concern was that, with such good weather perhaps donations would slip because residents would have made other plans for the weekend. However, that fear proved to be short lived, as more volunteers than ever came to lend a hand, whether it was for the day or just for a few hours. Also, hoards of donations poured in over the two-day period, helping the Cheshire Food Pantry restock some much-needed items.
“It was just so wonderful. It’s really a nice feeling to see this happen,” Scannell said. “People were absolutely terrific. We had a lot of people drive through and pop in to give cash or some extra food they had.”
Deborah Kohan, who co-chairs the food drive with her husband Zavosh, hoped to have one of the best turnouts ever. With a goal of 30,000 items to collect, Kohan said the drive exceeded those expectations this year by collecting 34,116 items. She said it was just an “amazing day” with an assortment of different volunteers, from girl scouts to college students. She acknowledged that even food pantry volunteers came down to lend a hand this year.
“It was just really nice,” Kohan said. “I am very happy with the results. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
Kohan described the weekend as “beautiful” and was impressed with all the hard work committee members and volunteers put in over the weekend. Without their efforts, Kohan said the food drive would not have been as successful as it was.
“My hat has to go off to the food drive committee; they worked hard on this all year,” Kohan said. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”
Scannell said that Stop & Shop was incredibly helpful this year highlighting certain items that were in need at the pantry. Signs were placed in the store that read “food drive item” and were stationed next to vegetables or pasta. Scannell said those items were becoming scarce because residents saw the signs, bought a couple extra items, and then dropped them off on the green. When food drive volunteers noticed that they had an excess of canned vegetables, they called Stop & Shop and said they needed more baby food.
“We had too much of one thing and asked if they would move the sign,” Scannell said. “And, you know what? Within an hour, we were inundated with baby food.”
Scannell remarked that, like in previous years, some donations had to be discarded because they had expired. While the food drive didn’t turn any donations away, old and outdated items were not stocked in the food pantry. He encouraged residents to double check dates on items they want to donate because “we have to be a little fussy and throw out old items.”
“We just can’t accept expired food,” Scannell said.
Overall, Scannell insisted the event was a success. The Food Drive is held every year in November on the green, and planning has already begun for next year’s event. However, volunteers will continue to work throughout the year to make sure residents in need will have access to food.
“It was impressive this year,” Scannell said. “The community really came together in many ways. It was just great to see.”