Volunteers distribute hundreds of boxes of food in North Hartford as pandemic squeezes more families

Marcus A. Brown stopped traffic at a busy intersection in the North End late Thursday morning, running up to idling cars with a simple question: “You need a box?”

Working with a team of three other volunteers, he deftly swung cardboard boxes stacked with fresh carrots, potatoes, onions, zucchini, cabbages and apples off a pickup truck and into passing cars.

“Fruits and vegetables, you want some? Little brother, you good?” Brown, 50, called down the street. Most people needed only a second to say yes, roll down their window, and accept the serendipitous offering.

While there has long been significant food insecurity in the North End, community organizers and local volunteers say that hunger has grown more acute for many families as the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic extends into an increasingly uncertain fall and winter.