ANSONIA — In these next few weeks, residents who receive food from one of the local pantries may want to give a silent thanks to Ansonia Public Schools, which recently donated nearly 11,600 servings of pizza, chicken, pasta and other items.
The frozen food had been purchased for student lunches for the district and couldn’t be used due to the closing of schools in March. The district had moved from providing hot meals in school to cold meals, which are transported into city neighborhoods in a Mobile Meals Program that is serving nearly 700 children daily.
Cases of frozen pizza, chicken tenders, pasta, and beef patties and other entrée items would have gone out of date by the time school reopens in the fall. On May 4, vans from five pantries pulled up to Ansonia High School to accept the food donations. The hand off was coordinated by Bob Lisi, the district’s Youth Outreach Officer, and David Morgan, president and CEO of TEAM Inc. of Derby.
TEAM has been overseeing the Food Security Task Force, which includes five key Valley food pantries and multiple community partners, including Ansonia Public Schools. Lisi and Joe Gonzalez, director of the Ansonia Nutrition Program, serve on the task force for the district. “This generosity of Ansonia Public Schools is making a meaningful difference for hundreds of children and families turning to the pantries every single week,” Morgan said. He noted that each month, the pantries distribute about 65,000 pounds of food to about 877 households, or nearly 2,000 individuals. Of that total, nearly 600 are children.
“These monthly numbers were prior to the pandemic,” Morgan said. “The food pantries are witnessing an increasing surge of households needing to access the food pantries, so this donation comes at a critical time.”
The food pantries that received donations include the Christ Episcopal Church Kathleen Samela Memorial Food Pantry and the Salvation Army in Ansonia; St. Vincent DePaul in Derby; Spooner House in Shelton; and the Seymour/Oxford Food Bank.
Christine Wallace, a consultant working for the Ansonia Nutrition Program, said they had been able to cancel other food orders and used the perishable items on hand in the Mobile Meals Program. They could not return the inventory of frozen food, so donating to local pantries was the next best option. The value of the food is about $5,700.
Dr. Joseph DiBacco, Superintendent of Schools, thanked Morgan and the pantries for getting the food to those who need it most. “We are well aware of the needs of our families and our community,” he said. “This is incredible. I love seeing people work together to reach a common goal.”
“Kudos to Ansonia Public Schools in this specific initiative to address food hardship and the complex impact that a community’s food economy can have on a region’s social wellbeing and health & wellness, especially amidst a public health crisis,” Morgan added.
DiBacco also announced that the Mobile Meals Program, which provides breakfast and lunch each day for children ages 18 and under, will continue throughout the summer. Ansonia is fortunate to be a Community Eligibility Provision district, in which all students receive free breakfast and lunch daily. Funding is from the USDA Child Nutrition program, which is open ended. Ansonia is prepared to provide as many meals that are needed for youth ages 18 and younger.
For more information about this program, go to the Food Services link on the district website, www.ansonia.org, and click on the Meal Dropoff Menu link. Due to the Memorial Day holiday on May 25, double meals will be provided at bus stops on May 22.
The Mobile Meals Distribution bus schedule is as follows (and please note that the bus arrival times may vary slightly each day):
