More than 275 cases of fresh, healthy food was distributed to the Valleys food banks earlier this week, thanks to an ongoing initiative to improve the health and well-being of Valley residents.

More than 275 cases of fresh, healthy food was distributed to the Valleys food banks earlier this week, thanks to an ongoing initiative to improve the health and well-being of Valley residents.

More than 275 cases of fresh, healthy food was distributed to the Valleys food banks earlier this week, thanks to an ongoing initiative to improve the health and well-being of Valley residents.

More than 275 cases of fresh, healthy food was distributed to the Valleys food banks earlier this week, thanks to an ongoing initiative to improve the health and well-being of Valley residents.

Groups collaborate to fill Valley pantries with fresh, healthful food

DERBY Valley families struggling to make ends meet, forced to decide whether to pay the heating bill or put food on the table, got a helping hand this week.

More than 275 cases of fresh, healthful food was distributed to the Valleys food banks this week, part of an ongoing initiative to improve the health and well-being of Valley residents.

Officials and volunteers from Griffin Hospital, Team Inc. and Better Packages Inc. of Ansonia joined at Basement Systems in Seymour to unload pallets of fruits and vegetables, peanut butter, eggs, soy milk, beans, fish and turkey delivered by Cheshire-based wholesale distributor Bozzutos Inc.

The food was picked up by the Valleys five main food banks and pantries, which include Spooner House in Shelton; Seymour-Oxford Food Bank in Seymour; St. Vincent De Paul in Derby; Salvation Army in Ansonia; and Christ Episcopal Church Kathleen Samela Memorial Food Bank in Ansonia.

Supplying local food banks and food pantries with more nutritious food such as fresh produce, lean meat, fish, eggs and whole grains is part of Griffins effort to support community based organizations that are addressing the needs of limited income families in our community, said Griffin Health CEO and President Patrick Charmel.

These needs include employment, housing, transportation and food that have a greater impact on health than the medical care that has been our sole focus previously, he said.

Two years ago, Griffin and its health care partners in the Value Care Alliance started an initiative to address the problem, having found that out of 5,449 screened Valley patients, more than 1,200, or 22 percent, reported food insecurity issues, according to Charmel.

Griffin partnered with Team, and the Valley Council for Health & Human Services Food Insecurity Task Force collaborated with Valley food banks and pantries and discovered that there was no standard for the types of foods the pantries accepted from donors.

This resulted in an oversupply of high calorie, high sugar and high sodium foods with little redeeming nutritional value, said Team CEO and President David Morgan. Donations of fresh fruits, vegetables and other healthy food options were scarce.

Most perishable food items stocked by the food pantries were purchased from the Connecticut Food Bank with the limited funds available to the food pantries, Morgan said. Griffin since made a commitment to help Team facilitate and finance the monthly purchase of fresh, nutritious foods for the local food pantries,

Through this collaboration with Team and Bozzutos along with the support of socially responsible companies like Basement Systems and Better Packages, we are creating an effective model for addressing food insecurity, Charmel said.

We know this model will improve the health and well-being of community residents and can be easily adopted by other organizations that want to truly make a difference, Charmel said.

Spooner House Executive Director Susan Compton Agamy expressed gratitude for the donation.

The food drop event on Monday was a tangible result of the work that has been done, and the high quality, nutritious food, especially the fresh produce and lean protein, acquired through this initiative have been enthusiastically received by our clients, she said.

This effort meets our clients immediate food needs and healthy living goals, educates our clients and the general public about the need for healthy foods, and promotes closer collaboration and partnerships across the nonprofit, corporate and public sectors to address the long-term goals of eliminating food insecurity and improving the health of our community, Compton Agamy said.

Any company or organization that would like to donate food, funds or volunteers can contact Morgan at dmorgan@Teaminc.org or 203-736-5420.

jean.sos@snet.net

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Groups collaborate to fill Valley pantries with fresh, healthful food - New Haven Register