Photo Courtesy of Luke Camara
(Left to right) Quintin Simjouw, EJ Smith, Luke Camara, Johnathan Zuckerman, and Luca Tecci.
DERBY – Derby High School sophomore Luke Camara knows that some families in Derby struggle to put food on their tables. He saw it when he was a student at Irving School, the city’s westside elementary school.
“There were some students who were coming to school in the same clothes, things like that,” Luke said. “It made me mad and it made me sad. But there was really nothing an 8‑year-old kid could do.”
Fast forward about eight years – and Luke is doing something about it.
Luke, a scout with Troop 3, is trying to become an Eagle Scout. For his Eagle Scout project he wants to build self-serve food pantries outside Irving School, Bradley School, and on the high school-middle school campus on Chatfield Avenue.
“This is my attempt to help now, when I actually can,” Luke said.
Luke’s idea was formulated with input from Derby Middle School Principal Rachael Caggiano. He went to her to talk about possible Eagle Scout projects. The conversation turned to food insecurity: a major issue in the lower Naugatuck Valley and beyond.
Their brainstorming session was interrupted by a phone call from Matthew Conway, the Derby Public Schools superintendent.
“As we were talking about it she received a phone call from the superintendent and had me answer it. So I gave him a rundown of the idea and he loved it,” Luke said.
Even before inflation caused the prices of groceries to balloon, food insecurity was recognized as a problem locally.
Between 2018 and 2020, Griffin Hospital surveyed 5,449 Medicaid and Medicare patients coming into the emergency room. Of those, 22 percent (or 1,200 people) identified the ability to get food as a pressing problem. Click this link to learn more.
“Little Food Pantries,” modeled after the “Little Library” trend, have popped up all over the U.S. as a way to get food to families. There are a bunch in the lower Naugatuck Valley, too.
It’s simple: if someone needs food, they take it. If someone wants to drop off food, they can do that, too (within reason and according to the rules of the individual pantry).
The specifics of the pantries Luke is planning are still being worked on. He has the approval of the Derby Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen and the Derby Board of Education. He is scheduled to appear before Scout leaders this month to gain their approvals, too.
After that happens, he’ll start fundraising for materials, nail down a plan and, hopefully, start building the three pantries in May. Luke also credited his stepfather, Scott Caldon, for being a big help thus far on the project.
He said he enjoyed navigating the local bureaucratic process to talk about his Eagle Scout project.
“I like seeing how things work and how people depend on each other,” he said.
It’s probably why he named AP Government & Politics as his favorite class at Derby High School.
“I’m very interested in learning about the U.S. government. Bureaucracy and all of that is really interesting to me,” he said.
Luke credited his mother, Meagan, for getting him into Scouts. He said his family talked about Scouts growing up because an uncle, Dennis Kisyk Jr., was an Eagle Scout.
“My parents and my grandparents grew up in Derby and one of my uncles was in the Scouts. He loved it. He was able to travel the country and to Ireland. I thought that was very interesting,” he said.
But Luke said he actually didn’t like a meeting he first attended as a young Cub Scout. His mother said that was fine, but encouraged him to attend a regular Scout meeting with Troop 3 in Derby when he was about 12.
Luke said he met two Scouts at his first meeting who became instant friends: William Bradshaw and Andrew Kluk.
He kept coming back for the people – and got hooked on Scouting activities and the ability to rise through the ranks.
“It all originated from the people I met at my first meeting,” he said.
