Allan Appel Photo
Quilts and warm clothes have been stashed next to the robes in judge’s chambers at New Haven’s Superior Court.
Assistant Court Clerk Tara Bartlett (pictured) Friday afternoon helped deliver hundreds of pounds of clothing and food, which had been stored at Superior Court, to the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) in the run-up to Thanksgiving Week.
“We deal with people in need on a daily basis. It’s our way of making a difference [in their lives],” said her colleague and fellow organizer Brenda Magoveny, the supervisor for the judges’ secretaries’ office.
Magoveny (pictured) said more than 200 people at the court had contributed, including Judges Brian Fisher and Robin Wilson (over Magoveny’s right shoulder in photo), who schlepped bags from a judicial-looking SUV to DESK’s storage spaces at 311 Temple St. This was the second year of the food drive, which was begun last year by Jessica Roman, and the first year for clothing.
According to DESK Executive Director Diana Richter and chief cook Linda Carbone, the items will help feed and warm about 150 people expected for the regular Wednesday night hot meal and the 500 Thanksgiving meals being prepared for the holiday.
The linkage between the courts and the nearby DESK was begun by Judge Emmet Cosgrove, who now sits in the New London Judicial District. When he was in the Elm City, he was a volunteer (one of 300 DESK counts on) who chopped fresh vegetables in the afternoon for Wednesday’s meal.
“He was very good at it,” said Richter.
In addition to DESK, other beneficiaries of this year’s food and clothing drives are New Haven Home Recovery and the Connecticut Food Bank.
