‘Harvest' at farmers market pavilion for those in need
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Harvest season is starting, but for some in need the “harvest” is the Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse’s Food Share. 
This Thursday, and every first Thursday of every month, the coffeehouse Food Share opens at 9:30 a.m. at the farmers’ market pavilion off Kennedy Drive (cars start lining up on Kennedy Drive much earlier).
Bruce Hay, longtime Food Share organizer, said anyone is welcome to the drive-through event. 
This week the food share has frozen chicken. There are also frozen vegetarian turkey rolls that are large enough to feed a family, he said.
He expected calls from various organizations on Tuesday (too late for press time) on what other foods would be available, in addition foods from Midwest of Manchester and the Connecticut Food Share and others. 
Last month, he said, the organization received 8,000 pounds of food from CT Food Share and 10,000 pounds from Midwest. 
He said usually produce that can’t be around much longer is part of the delivery. Last month a pallet of strawberries and a pallet of blackberries were on the delivery truck. “We get a lot of produce this time of year,” he said. 
Hay never knows precisely what is coming until the delivery trucks arrive at the pavilion. After the food is delivered, Hay organizes the volunteers a la “assembly line” to fill banana boxes donated by local grocery stores and bags. 
They generally give out between 250 and 300 bags. 
Hay has already received one pallet of food for Thursday. While he doesn’t know what will become available for this week’s Food Share, he said as of right now Food Share has some “regulars,” available: chips, popcorn, canned food, iced tea and sports drinks. Windham Pepsi in Dayville is a monthly donator.
Lately, he said, the Food Share has served between 255 and 280 vehicles. If there’s leftover food, it goes to other organizations such as the Putnam Elks which has its Food Share on Saturday. Hay estimated that some 315 families, total are helped. 

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