Bridgeport Hospital and CT Foodshare will celebrate a milestone at their upcoming mobile food pantry event on November 26. The hospital’s mobile food pantry, which started in 2019, is set to distribute its 20,000th allotment of food during this event. Typically, the program serves about 200 households at each distribution.
Gina Smith, manager of Community Health in the Office of Health Equity and Community Impact at Bridgeport Hospital, commented on the achievement: “We are incredibly proud to reach this milestone. We see firsthand how many families in our community face challenges meeting their basic needs. Through partnerships like this one with CT Foodshare, we’re not just addressing food insecurity, we’re helping relieve stress for families and showing them that their community cares.”
The November 26 distribution will start earlier than usual at 9 am because CT Foodshare offices will close early for Thanksgiving. Those seeking assistance are encouraged to arrive early; numbers will be handed out beginning at 8:30 am.
In addition to regular food allotments from CT Foodshare, attendees will receive an extra bag of shelf-stable holiday food items. This is made possible by the Northeast Medical Group (NEMG) Community Outreach Committee’s holiday food drive. The extra bags will be available while supplies last to help families have a more festive holiday meal. Members of the Bridgeport Fire Department will also participate in distributing food at this event.
Future mobile pantry dates at Bridgeport Hospital include December 10, January 7, and January 21. More information can be found using the mobile pantry locator on www.ctfoodshare.org.
Bridgeport Hospital is part of Yale New Haven Health and operates as a non-profit acute care hospital with two campuses serving patients from across the region. It admits over 23,000 patients annually and provides nearly 350,000 outpatient treatments each year. The hospital also houses Connecticut’s only burn center.
