Resident Starts Local Food Collection

For Rescue Mission

By Kendra Bobowick

“There is an enormous need,” said Resident Rich Greenawalt, as he thought about the people relying on the Bridgeport Rescue Mission for food, clothing, and everyday things.

A brief conversation there prompted him to help.

“I brought some things in a couple months ago when the chef pulled me aside.” The mission had never been so tight on resources, he told Mr Greenawalt. Making a trip to the mission at about the time when residents harvested their gardens, he said, “I thought I would bring some fresh produce.” The chef thanked him but warned Mr Greenawalt that the mission was nearly out of food.

He decided to help. People may not have time to deliver goods to Bridgeport, he thought, so he arranged collections in Newtown and Monroe, then drove the goods to Bridgeport.

“I thought, if I make it easy [to donate] people would do it, and they did in droves!” he said. In past weeks he has been collecting food and items outside the Caraluzzi’s supermarket on Saturdays in the center of town. Next stop, Monroe. At a supermarket there he has taken up another collection before delivering his day’s donation to Bridgeport.

On October 2, he will begin monthly collections on the first Saturday of the month, and will incorporate coat drives, or other collections depending on the mission’s needs.

“It’s as grass roots as it gets! It couldn’t be a simpler idea,” he said. He will be at Caraluzzi’s at 10:30 am and at the Stop & Shop on Route 111 in Monroe at 11:30.

“The rescue mission does so much,” he said. “They feed, educate, provide resources. They deal with everything — whatever it takes to set people back on their feet.”

A former Trumbull resident who currently finds his way to Bridgeport for business, he said, “I can’t tell you the people I have met there who were ‘on their way out,’” he said, describing the men and women who had nearly given up on themselves. Admiring the mission’s work, he said, “They rehab people’s spirits.”

Helping him are a network of people: Newtown resident Gavin Preis, and Monroe residents David Pia and Karyn Daniels Wade, among them. “They have been so good,” said Mr Greenawalt. He thanks them and others who “do charitable work and have helped out.”

His goal? “To be there as another resource. They need a lot of help from a lot of people,” he said. He hopes the support and contributions grow in time. “Maybe we can support other communities or coordinate with other groups,” he mused.

Find more information about his upcoming monthly food and donation drives on his page on Facebook.com, or contact him by email at richgreenawalt@yahoo.com.

Learn more about the Bridgeport Rescue Mission at BridgeportRescueMission.org.