Our sincere thanks goes out to our Mayor, Ben Florsheim. A year ago he committed to helping us find a way to provide weekend nourishment to public school kids who need support, from elementary through high school. It was a big undertaking. But with his advocacy in a tight budget year and the cooperation and support of the Common Council, we got the program started. Then, at the Mayor’s Ball on September 28th, His Honor announced that some of the proceeds from the 18th Annual Mayor’s Ball was going to be donated to us to help us reach the funds needed to see the program through the entire school year. Currently, 360 elementary school students get a take-home bag of food every Friday, another 150 students at Beman School get one, and over 500 students at Middletown High School come each Friday to our pop-up market, taking home up to five pounds of nutrition to help them get through the weekend.
Pictured from left to right are Brenda Reilly, Amazing Grace Director, Maryellen Shuckerow, Executive Director, Mayor Florsheim of the City of Middletown, and Peter Keast, Special Projects Director.