WPLR 99.1 FM and Connecticut Service Plazas will host the “Share What You Can” Summer Food Drive on Thursday, June 19th, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Food will be collected at the Milford I-95 Northbound and Southbound Service Plazas (between exits 40 & 41). AJ from The Chaz & AJ Morning Show will broadcast live from the Milford Southbound plaza.
Non-perishable food items, such as, canned fruits and vegetables, beans, tuna, pasta will be collected. Monetary donations will also be collected. All food and monetary donations will be given to The Connecticut Food Bank.
According to The Connecticut Food Bank, a family with two children must come up with 200 extra meals during summer months. Overall, there are more than 150,000 children in Connecticut who don’t always know where their next meal will come from.
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“In the summer, food donations are traditionally low, yet the demand for food is at its highest. Many kids are home from school and no longer have access to reduced priced meals,” said Mary Ingnarra, Connecticut Food Bank Communications Director. “Food banks run dry very quickly over the summer months and we need partnerships with organizations like CT Service Plazas and WPLR to encourage food donations.”
“Many people in Connecticut don’t know that thousands of children in the state may go hungry throughout the summer since schools are not in session to provide meals. The Service Plazas want to do what we can to make it easier for people to donate to those in need at the time they need it most,” said Paul Landino, President and CEO of Project Service.
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Project Service LLC, which has a long-term contract with the state to renovate and operate the Service Plazas, recently reopened the renovated Milford Service Plazas in spring 2012.
All 23 Service Plazas are open twenty-four hours a day. Each Service Plaza offers different food options; some of these options include Subway, McDonalds, and Dunkin’ Donuts. Each Service Plaza also features an Alltown Convenience Store and an ExxonMobil gas station. The plazas also have clean restrooms, free Wi-Fi and backup power generators for use during power outages.
