‘If you can, pay it forward,' says food drive organizer

By Deborah Rose

[Editor's Note March 21, 2024: This event has been moved indoors to Odd Fellows, 25 Danbury Road, New Milford, due to inclement weather forecast. All activities will go on as planned at the new location.]

New Milford has long been described as one of the most generous communities. 

The combination of volunteerism, donations, nonprofit organizations, and events that raise awareness for and support various causes certainly paints a picture of a thoughtful, generous, and caring community. 

Resident Jenn Arnau is one of the residents who is involved in ongoing efforts to give back to the town in which she was raised.

“I was raised that whenever you can give back, you give back,” Arnau said. “And whether that’s dropping off 2 cans of soup or 12, it’s all giving back.”

Arnau’s latest endeavor is the second annual Bandstand Food Drive to benefit the town’s food bank.

It will be held March 23 from 1 to 4 p.m. A rain date of March 24 is planned.

Donations of non-perishable food items, as well as personal care and hygiene items, cleaning products, paper goods, and baby diapers, are sought (a list of suggested items is here).

“Over a 1,000 people (are) served each month and new households continue to sign up,” for services through the food bank, according to New Milford Social Services Director Ivana Butera. 

“We give away thousands of pounds of food each month so every little bit, even the smallest of donations, makes a tremendous difference.”

Butera emphasized the “vital” need for food in March.

“Usually after the holidays, donations drop off but the amount of people coming to the food bank continues to grow,” she said, noting the food bank serves 220 families.

Last year, 57 bags of non-perishables and $1,125 were collected at Arnau’s food drive, which was held on the “coldest day of the year,” Arnau said.

“It went well, considering the circumstances,” she said. 

However, the organizer expressed her optimism that this year’s event will be even better.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The food drive is more than just a collection of items for the town’s food bank.

Arnau has tailored the drive to be a family-centered event. There’s an incentive to making donations – tickets to a raffle – as well as games, free face painting, music, a few vendor tables, an ice cream truck, treats by Baked by Bunchy.

Create a Castle may also have a surprise at the event.

The activities are a way to “reach out” to a broader group of people in the community, and to teach children that not everyone has food on their table, the organizer said. 

Individuals who bring five non-perishables or more will be asked to check in at a table, where they will be given a car window decal that reads, “I support the New Milford Food Bank Drive.”

They will also be given a raffle ticket to be entered into one of the baskets for a variety of gift certificates, goods and services donated by more than 30 businesses.

“I’m amazed at this town for doing what it’s done – all of the businesses and people who have donated to this so far,” Arnau said. “It’s a phenomenal response.”

In addition to business donations to the raffle, the New Milford Public Library is lending Arnau its life-sized games, the ice cream truck and Goatboy Soaps will donate a portion of their proceeds from the event to the food bank, and Vincent Rodriguez of Smiles I Can’t See will perform at the bandstand and donated a guitar set to the raffle.

Webb Youth Services will greet the public to discuss the types of programs it offers, and Girl Scouts will collect peanut butter and jelly for the food bank.

Arnau said the food bank gets a lot of grape jelly, but volunteers would appreciate donations of other flavors to serve its clients.

“The food bank is overwhelmed with grape….they have a wall of grape,” she said, emphasizing the hope is for flavors aside from grape to be donated at the food drive.

Resident Andrea Dener, who connected with Arnau through a past food drive, will oversee one of the tables at the event. 

Dener and Arnau have never met in person, but they communicate via text. 

“We have a lot of the same energy and passion,” Dener said. “We just clicked.”

Dener described Arnau as “a real asset to our town,” citing her “passion for New Milford.”

“Even in the midst of life stuff going on,” Arnau is committed and actively doing what needs to be done to pull an event together, Dener related.

“She’s amazing, unbelievable, a ball of fire in a good way,” said Dener.

Butera agreed: “Jenn's efforts are amazing, and she is so passionate about helping our community fight food insecurity. We feel very lucky to have her support.”

GIVING BACK

Arnau has spearheaded several projects to benefit multiple organizations and causes since 2020. Her first community-focused project was making ear protectors for masks during COVID.

She continued to give back, a little more quietly, in the years that followed, supporting anonymous families during back-to-school times and the holidays, working through Social Services.

Last year, she initiated a drop-a-bag drive for the food bank. The public was asked to drop off bags of food at numerous locations throughout town.

Over the years, she and a small group of friends team up to ensure nearly a half dozen families have their needs met. Donations – outside of the town’s Santa Fund program - have included new outfits for children, stockings and more. 

On top of that, she has prepared an additional 15 stockings packed with all kinds of goodies during the holiday season. 

“For me, a lot of (this) goes back to the way I was raised,” Arnau related. “If you can pay it forward, you can give back to your community.”

Courtesy of New Milford Food Bank

Courtesy of New Milford Food Bank