!["It's a fun exercise for me to listen [to people],"...](https://www.courant.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2018/11/13/E2UGTL5YVZHATLC4BIXSZZEL5Q.jpg?w=620)
Hartford residents and businesses came together to collect food items for families in need early Tuesday, despite the heavy rain.
Foodshare’s “Turkey Tuesday” Food Drive kicked off at CityPlace on Asylum Street with the help of Bank of America and UnitedHealthcare volunteers.
Close to 600 turkeys were donated. More than 700 pounds of perishable and nonperishable food items, and more than $31,000 in monetary donations were also collected.
Many of the volunteers and donors expressed just how important giving back to the community is, even if it meant getting caught in wet weather.
“It’s important for us to remember that there are people going without. It’s easy to get caught up and not think about it,” said UnitedHealthcare employee Tom Albrecht, of Wethersfield, who donated two turkeys.
According to Foodshare, approximately 127,000 people are food insecure in Hartford and Tolland counties, meaning they might not know where their next meal will come from. Roughly 29 percent of those are children.
“We need to do what we can to help one another,” said United Healthcare employee Cliff Wolff.
Artist Constanza Segovia created a mural throughout the morning, incorporating quotes about the food drive and what it means to the community.
“Generosity — the value of giving something in the time of the holidays so that people who might be dealing with a lot of different things in their lives at least have a chance to sit down and have a meal with their loved ones. It’s a beautiful sentiment,” she said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal also stopped by to donate a turkey.
“No child, no family should go without food on this holiday when we give thanks to everything we have,” he said. “It really is an opportunity to show how grateful we are for all the gifts we have here in Connecticut and how we can be generous to people who have less than we do.”
Foodshare’s overall goal is to provide holiday meals for more than 15,000 families in Greater Hartford. They are continuing to collect donations through Nov. 20.
For more information on how to help fight hunger, visit foodshare.org.
![By TARA COPP (Associated Press) BOSTON (AP) — There has been no final decision on whether or not all U.S. troops will leave Niger and Chad, two African countries that are integral to the military’s efforts to counter violent extremist organizations across the Sahel region, a top U.S. military official told The Associated Press on […]](https://www.courant.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Niger_US_Presence_99160_5253fb.jpg?w=467 "By TARA COPP (Associated Press) BOSTON (AP) — There has been no final decision on whether or not all U.S. troops will leave Niger and Chad, two African countries that are integral to the military’s efforts to counter violent extremist organizations across the Sahel region, a top U.S. military official told The Associated Press on […]")
