The free food truck didn’t make it to Ridgefield last week, because of the weather, and its visit has been rescheduled for this Friday morning, Feb. 21, from 9 to 10, at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, off Ivy Hill Road.
“We cancel if school is canceled,” said town Social Services Director Tony Phillips.
“We did have lots of calls on Friday about postponing the delivery. We tried to get the word out through the Internet and social media as best we could.”
The truck, officially called the Connecticut Food Bank Mobile Pantry, has been coming to Ridgefield since late 2012 for monthly distribution of free food that usually includes fresh produce, bread and proteins. It has traditionally parked near an apartment complex on Halpin Lane, but crowds started getting large for that spot. St. Andrew’s Church volunteered to host the visits and is now expected to be the new location every month.
The food bank truck gives away food all around the state, and its visits to Ridgefield were begun with support from a local donor.
More than 100 people came to get food from the truck in January, and in December more than 200 came.
Mr. Phillips said the Social Services Department and the volunteers who work at the food distributions had made an effort to let people know about last week’s cancellation, and are now trying to get word out about the rescheduling.
“We have many people who are computer savvy, but we also have a large number of clients who are less computer savvy,” he said. “Thus we are mixing things up by calling people, posting things online, hanging posters, getting word to our newspaper, contacting the Housing Authority staff, RVNA, Meals on Wheels so they can also help spread the word.”
There was a bit of luck involved in getting the Connecticut Food Bank truck to come for a makeup visit on such short order.
“The truck is normally scheduled pretty tightly during the month, but this Friday they are headed to Southbury for a mid-day delivery,” Mr. Phillips said. “First they’ll come to Ridgefield for our delivery, and will next head to Southbury.”