100 Windham families to receive free groceries

Michelle Warren, The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.
·2 min read

Aug. 5—W I N D H A M — Thanks to a $10,000 donation from the Hispanic Federation, groceries will be donated to 100 Windham families who are in need.

The donation was accepted by the board of education by a vote of 8 to 0 during their July 27 meeting. Windham Board of Education Chairwoman Lynne Ide said she works with Hispanic Federation on a regular basis at her job.

She is Director of Program and Policy at Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut.

Ide said the federation is a " wonderful organization."

Windham Superintendent of Schools Tracy Youngberg expressed appreciation to the federation in an e- mail on Tuesday.

" We are extremely grateful to the Hispanic Federation for their generous donation and for Ms. (Yusomil) Bonet serving as the liaison," she wrote. " I think everyone understands the impact of poverty and food insecurity. The school district will always be willing to participate in opportunities that help our students and their families to gain access to necessary resources, like groceries. Our primary job is to provide a quality education experience to Windham's students, but this is extremely challenging when our students' basic needs are not met."

Bonet is a teacher at Windham Middle School.

According to an e- mail from Hispanic Federation New England Regional Director Yanidsi Velez, each of the 100 families will receive vegetables, fruit, dry goods and canned goods for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Meat and dairy products will not be included.

The donation involves a partnership between the middle school and Windham Head Start.

The federation encourages school officials to leverage the donation with other businesses and entities to match the donation value from the federation.

This could include donations of masks, backpacks, sanitizer, antibacterial wipes, meats or dairy products. Youngberg said the details of the program need to be worked out.

The federation, a non- profit, was founded in 1990.

According to their website, the mission of the non- profit is to " empower and advance the Hispanic community, support Hispanic families and strengthen Latino institutions through work in the areas of education, health, immigration, civic engage-

HISPANIC, Page 4

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Hispanic Federation donates $10,000

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ment, economic empowerment and the environment."

The federation has a headquarters in New York, as well as offices in Albany, NY, Hartford, Orlando, Charlotte and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Follow Michelle Warren on Twitter — @mwarrentc.