A Year In Three Minutes
Don't have time to read another boring year-in-review newsletter? Here's the video version, which bears more than a passing resemblance to our 2023 effort, only not quite as good. Best enjoyed with your device set to eleven.
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All The Stats You Need To Know
Video went by a little too fast? We took some notes. So here you go...
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276 individuals volunteered at the Pantry in 2024. Some worked only a handful of hours. Others pretty much never left the place. And those 16,188 hours don't include the countless time spent by many volunteers doing essential work away from the Pantry - or the hours of those who forget to "clock in," thereby foregoing our generous compensation package. | |  |
That's a lot of food - around 40 pounds per family per visit. But more importantly, the vast majority of that food was healthy fresh produce and nutritious proteins such as eggs and milk. With the help of Connecticut Foodshare, we significantly increased the variety and quantity of fresh produce available throughout 2024. | | |
This statistic focuses on the number of different households we served. If we count duplicated visits, we welcomed guests over 34,000 times! For the math-challenged, that means the average number of visits per guest was around seven - versus the theoretical maximum of 36 (at three visits per month). | | |
In 2023, there was a big jump in the number of distributions because it was the first full year of senior shopping distributions and DoorDash home deliveries. This year, the only variables were closures due to weather or holidays, so the number remained pretty much unchanged. | | |
Thanksgiving Distribution | |
You guessed it, our 2024 Thanksgiving distribution was another record, with 925 guests served - a 23% increase over 2023. Sixty volunteers worked their you-know-what's off to make it all happen. There's a picture gallery of the proceedings on our website, but if you watched the video, you'll already have gotten the idea. Once again, all volunteers received a gracious pardon from the Honorable Bertram Pop-Up Timer. If you haven't picked up yours, you can request one at contact@dailybreadfoodpantry.com. Special thanks go to Santa (Bill Dexter), his Chief Elf (Martin Landgrebe), and Sirely Shaldjian for her fantastic table of Thanksgiving-themed giveaways for our smaller guests.
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Christmas Eve Distribution | Seemingly before we could catch out breath from Thanksgiving, Christmas was upon us. An inconveniently-timed snowfall, a near disaster at the super pantry, and assorted other calamities didn't get in the way of our Christmas Eve distribution. Guests brave enough to venture out got an amazing selection of delicious, healthy food, gingerbread houses, and of course toys and games for the little nuggets. Once again, our sincere thanks go to Santa Bill Dexter, accompanied this time by Frosty (Lynn Van Wagner). | | |
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The masterpiece dreamed up by Pattie Silver-Thompson is complete and has pride of place in our new super pantry. A photo doesn't come close to doing it justice. It is truly stunning. Thank you Pattie for the talent and inspired leadership that brought your idea to life - and to the many, many volunteers who contributed to the project.
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Speaking of the super pantry, the good news is we are getting down to "punch list" type items that are still to be completed. The bad news is the punch list is quite long - and as we cross one item off it sometimes seems we add two more. But, we are almost there, and now must turn our attention to the operating model. Yes, the super pantry is an impressive building, but equally important is the way it will work. We have invested in state-of-the-art pantry management software to ensure food and other items are allocated as fairly as possible -- and that guests are encouraged to make healthy food choices. We will introduce this system at the upcoming orientation sessions. If you haven't signed up for a session yet, now is the time! Click on the picture to reserve a spot.
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The clear winner, among some tough competiion.
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Finally, a personal thank you | |
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2024 was the 40th anniversary of Daily Bread and we could not have marked it more appropriately. Once again, we broke all records in terms of numbers served and food distributed. And we threw a 40th anniversary party for volunteers past, present, and future. Most importantly, we embarked on the super pantry project, which will help redefine the response to food and nutrition insecurity not just at Daily Bread, but in Greater Danbury and beyond.
We have come a long way, but there is still far to go. 2025 will bring many new challenges. But I am confident that the Daily Bread team will rise to those challenges, and once again demonstrate how much can be achieved by a dedicated group of wonderful volunteers.
Thank you for your hard work in the past year. You are all amazing.
Peter Kent
December 27, 2024
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