Editor's Notebook: Patch "Gives 5" to the Food Bank

The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County distributes 1.4 million pounds of food every year and does so with five employees. On Wednesday, they had fifteen extra sets of hands to help.

Patch has a community service program called "Give 5," which allows employees a few days off a year to go out into their respective towns and volunteer. This month, we decided to do a company-wide service day on Dec. 9 and were graciously allowed to help out at the Food Bank.

We felt the Food Bank would be a great place for a few reasons. First, it serves many of the same communities that we do, including Wilton, Westport, and New Canaan, so it allowed us to try and help the same towns that offer us so much on a daily basis. Secondly, we also had a number of people from our New York office, including Patch President Warren Webster, coming up to help, too. If you've ever been to the Food Bank, then you know that they have a pretty large warehouse that would hopefully prevent 15 Patchers from bumping into each other and stepping on one another's toes (it only partially worked, but only because many of us are clumsy).

Despite some messy roads and nasty weather, including three to four inches of new-fallen snow and gusting winds, we arrived at the Food Bank around 9:30 a.m. to find it already bustling. We were set promptly to work sorting huge bins of canned and boxed goods and setting them up on a new series of shelving systems.

"The shelves are great because they make the experience of shopping here more dignified," said Food Bank Director Kate Lombardo, adding that instead of having to rummage through bins to find what they need, families can easily pick items off the shelves, making it more akin to a grocery store.

Lombardo's story is an inspiring one, which we wrote about a few months back, and includes a childhood spent occasionally frequenting food pantries, going on to work at Goldman Sachs for years, and then returning to her roots to head her own food pantry in Stamford. Because of this unlikely and impressive career arc, Lombardo knows about hard work and was especially thankful to have extra help, particularly during the busy holiday season.

As of October, Lombardo's organization had distributed 12,571 pounds of food to the Wilton Interfaith Council, the town's own nonprofit food distribution center. The Food Bank is an invaluable and much needed community resource, at a time when the number of Wilton families receiving food assistance (55 in October) is at an all-time high and still rising.

So, to be able to help such a noble cause, even for a day, is something that we Patchers are very thankful for and plan to continue doing. And we are grateful to the Food Bank for hosting us.

Lombardo also made sure to say that any time anyone would like to help at the Food Bank, they are more than welcome and encouraged to do so. The Food Bank is located at 461 Glenbrook Road in Stamford, and can be reached at 203-358-8898.

And to find out more about Patch's commitment to serving organizations like the Food Bank, including donation of free advertising to local charities, please e-mail give5@patch.com.

Happy Holidays.