Agencies Helping During Holidays
By Chris Seymour | Correspondent at November 27, 2023 | 6:15 pm | Print
With Thanksgiving upon us, several city charitable organizations, including the Human Resources Agency (HRA) of New Britain, were slated to distribute turkeys and other food to needy families this week.
This past Tuesday, Nov. 25, HRA’s food pantry, the New Britain Food & Resource Center, provided turkeys (donated by Foodshare) and other community-donated Turkey Day food items to 330 New Britain families, according to Juan Berrios, Financial Services Program Manager at HRA.
“In addition to receiving a turkey, families will be able to collect any other type of food items that will be there, such as stuffing, gravy, rice, potatoes,” added Berrios. “There’ll definitely be onions, carrots and apples.”
The produce that will be available at the Food & Resource Center is mostly donated by Foodshare, according to Berrios, and the non-perishables are courtesy of the generosity of city residents and other organizations.
Last year, the Food & Resource Center provided Thanksgiving food for around 500 needy families; however, the number dropped this year due to previous uncertainty surrounding grant money that was recently secured, according to Berrios.
“We just secured funding for our food pantry itself,” said Berrios. “We did not know if we were actually going to be able to be open for the holidays.”
According to Berrios, the food pantry for the non-profit HRA is currently only running off Community Development Block Grant funding, which he said is money his group receives from the city through Housing and Urban Development.
“But, fortunately, we received the notification recently that we were going to be receiving some minimal funding [Berrios estimated about $10,000] from the city, which allows our pantry to remain open one day a week for the time being,” he explained. “Without that funding, our pantry would’ve closed down for sure, but that will enable the pantry to stay open and provide food for needy families this holiday season.”
The Food & Resource Center, located at 460 Osgood Ave., is currently open on Saturdays only from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Residents in need of its services are encouraged to apply by stopping by during those hours and bringing a photo ID; Social Security cards for everyone in the household; any bill, rent receipt or lease to prove you are a New Britain resident; proof of income from the current year (any paystub); or a food stamp award letter.
“I think people need it more and more now,” said Berrios. “And that’s all food pantries—not just ours. I do know from speaking with customers that there is definitely a need and a lot of pantries are very short on the funding to keep their center open or they’re just low on food. And usually around this time of year, it is the toughest time for all the pantries because there is an influx of people who always try to secure some type of holiday food items.”
Those interested in making a donation to the Food & Resource Center may call the HRA main line at 860-225-8601.
“To me, it always feels really good to just give back to the community; that’s one of the joys of the job,” said Berrios of helping city residents during the holidays.
Other city organizations, such as the Spanish Speaking Center and the Salvation Army, were also helping out hungry/needy families this holiday, however, officials at both organizations did not return multiple voicemail messages left late last week by The City Journal.
