SSKP's 4th Annual Firehouse Food Drive was a great success, raising 5,200 pounds of food for local residents in need!

Held on April 11th, firefighters and community volunteers worked together to collect food from generous donors throughout the area. The eight fire stations taking part this year included Old Saybrook, Westbrook, Essex, Killingworth, Chester, Deep River, Clinton and Niantic.

Firefighter Max Sabrin, with the Old Saybrook FD, helped to bring together members of the media, including Harbor News/Shore Publishing, Full Power Radio, Lee Elci from News Now 94.9FM, WBMW-Soft Rock 106.5 FM, and Jammin' 107.7, Kristen Johnson of NBC CT News, Kim Lucey of WFSB Eyewitness News 3, and Bob Muscatell of WLIS/WMRD 1420 AM/1150 AM.

In addition, the Clinton Shop Rite gave a generous food donation, while Clinton Stop & Shop and Old Saybrook Stop & Shop offered additional donation areas, manned by firehouse and community volunteers.

Spring can be a challenging time for many food pantries, as there are traditionally fewer food drives. This collection of over 5,000 pounds of food will help to fill the shelves out SSKP's 5 area food pantries.

"It's so heartwarming to know that these firefighters, who work so hard year-round to protect us, are willing to come together on a sunny Saturday to answer the call of our most vulnerable neighbors," said Patty Dowling, SSKP Executive Director. "We saw hundreds of residents – students, families, seniors – some with one bag and others with carloads, coming down to their local fire houses to make sure our shelves would be full. We are so grateful to those who donated and especially to all the fire houses that made this year's drive a success."