Stephanie Addenbrooke Photo
Volunteers and local educators “blitzed” through New Haven streets to make sure no child goes hungry this summer.
The blitz began at 1 p.m. Saturday, when an army of orange T‑shirts convened in Goffe Street Park to spread the word about a summer food program.
For over a decade, a campaign called End Hunger in Connecticut (EHC) has been attempting to combat one pressing problem: when school is out, students lose the opportunity for their free school meals. Saturday was the first of many “blitz” days across the state, where members of the community will canvass and help draw attention to a free summer meal program for students.
Last year, the program saw a 23 percent increase in meals served in New Haven, according to EHC Executive Director Lucy Nolan. Organizers hope the numbers will continue to grow this summer.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro described the program as a much-needed vaccine for children in the state. According to DeLauro, the number of children who go hungry during the summer months could fill Fenway Park.
“We need to vaccinate every child in America against hunger,” DeLauro said, a statement met by cheers of agreement from the volunteers.
So, on Saturday, volunteers went door-to-door all across the city canvassing to generate interest. Volunteers did not stay just in the Goffe Street area; some drove across to Fair Haven to spread the word. In New Haven alone, there will be at least 85 stations where students can receive a free, healthful school meal (the most of any city in the state). Most stations will serve both breakfast and lunch, with some also adding dinner this year for the first time. A school bus will be available to provide meals to students with lesser access to a nearby station. The program will continue its service of its own food truck, which will drive around the city during the day.
To find out where to get food, parents can call 211, text CTmeals to 877 – 877, or check this website.
Kimberly Hunt, a mother involved in community organizations across the city including the New Haven Food Policy Council, said she herself used the truck last year to help feed her 13-year-old son. This year she walked the Goffe Street area providing leaflets to neighbors. With Colin Ng, a volunteer with AmeriCorps, she left leaflets at community centers, local businesses and churches in the hope that more students would be able to benefit from the program like she had.
Before Hunt and Ng began canvassing, they heard from a number of the program’s organizers and greatest supporters.
“We’re here to tell them that we love them and that there’s a place for them to eat during the summer,” Nolan told volunteers like Hunt and Ng.
Will Clark, the chief operating officer of the Board of Education, described the volunteers as the “orange army.” He talked about benefiting the whole child, a concept which cannot be completed in a classroom. Clark explained that the whole child requires physical health, mental health and most importantly, enough food to eat.
“There is nothing that services the whole child more than good food service programs,” Clark said.
These food service programs will begin on June 29 and continue throughout the summer months.
"Volunteers and local educators 'blitzed' through New Haven streets"—essentially drumming up votes for Rosa DeLauro's re-election. Of course, DeLauro is hardly an innovator, in this regard. Politicians have been manipulating the poor since ancient times: for example, Roman politicians passed laws in 140 B.C. to keep the votes of poorer citizens, by giving out cheap food and entertainment. "Bread and circuses" (panem et circenses) became the most effective way to obtain power. It worked!—despite contributing to the eventual collapse of the Roman Empire.
Of course, a much more effective and enduring way to deal with hunger would be to use at least 'some' of that money to purchase vacant land, teach people to grow food—then teach them how to prepare it. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
But DeLauro knows very well that if she did THAT—she wouldn't get NEARLY as many votes. Why challenge a constituent—if you can buy their vote, instead? And even use tax dollars to do so. The sheer brilliance of it is astounding!...