Giving, with a smile, to the Kent Food Bank

KENT — Youngsters at the Kent Children’s Center delivered nonperishable foods to the Kent Food Bank on Friday morning. The groceries, which were donated by people in the community, will be given to families in need over the Thanksgiving holiday.

“We still need more donations, people utilize us weekly,â€� said Fran Goodsell, who is a volunteer manager of the food bank with her husband, Bill. “We always need peanut butter and jelly, cereal, canned meat, paper towels, toilet paper, canned soups and beans, rice, cake mixes. Jell-O  is an easy dessert and you just add water. We always like to get Jello-O. Macaroni and cheese is also always popular.â€�

Although churches in town have continued to offer good support to the food bank, this has not been a great year overall for donations.

“We’re not getting the quantities we’ve had in the past but we’re doing the best we can,� Goodsell said.

The Goodsells joined the regional Sunday in the Country food drive over the weekend to collect turkeys and sides; the drive serves about 600 families in New York and Connecticut.

Collections are ongoing for daily cooking and for the upcoming Christmas and Hanukkah holidays. Food can be left in the box at the Davis IGA; donations made out to the Kent Food Bank can be dropped off at Town Hall.

Latest News

Tuning up two passions under one roof

The Webb Family in the workshop. From left: Phyllis, Dale, Ben and Josh Webb, and project manager Hannah Schiffer.

Natalia Zukerman

Magic Fluke Ukulele Shop and True Wheels Bicycle Shop are not only under the same roof in a beautiful solar powered building on Route 7 in Sheffield, but they are also both run by the Webb family, telling a tale of familial passion, innovation and a steadfast commitment to sustainability.

In the late ‘90s, Dale Webb was working in engineering and product design at a corporate job. “I took up instrument manufacturing as a fun challenge,” said Dale. After an exhibit at The National Association of Music Merchants in Anaheim, California, in 1999, The Magic Fluke company was born. “We were casting finger boards and gluing these things together in our basement in New Hartford and it just took off,” Dale explained. “It was really a wild ride, it kind of had a life of its own.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Robert Cray’s soulful blues coming to Infinity Hall

Robert Cray

Photo provided

Blues legend Robert Cray will be bringing his stinging, funky guitar and soulful singing to Infinity Hall Norfolk on Friday, March 29.

A five-time Grammy winner, Cray has been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and earned The Americana Music Awards Lifetime Achievement for Performance. He has played with blues and rock icons including Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton and many more.

Keep ReadingShow less