Government

Town: Demand at New Canaan Food Pantry Nearly Doubles in January

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Demand at the New Canaan Food Pantry nearly doubled year-over-year in January, officials say. In the first month of 2024, 96 households and 220 individuals used the volunteer-run Food Pantry located at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church that’s overseen by the Department of Human Services, according to the municipal agency’s director, Bethany Zaro. The numbers are up from 53 households and 118 individuals in January 2023, respectively, she said. “The state of the economy, the increased affordable housing—the low-income housing that has been completed in New Canaan—this drives our numbers,” Zaro said at the Feb.

Amy Murphy Carroll

FY25 Budget: Carlson Flags Town Stipends for Nonprofits

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The town should allow grant-making agencies that raise private dollars to fund nonprofit organizations that serve residents, rather than putting that cost on local taxpayers, New Canaan’s highest elected official said last week. Other Fairfield County towns do not make the smaller grants that New Canaan has given to agencies such as the Child Guidance Center and, more recently, Family Centers, according to First Selectman Dionna Carlson. New Canaan needs to “look at where are we getting our bang for buck as a municipality, and what are we using that we need to fund,” Carlson said during a Jan. 23 Board of Selectmen meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

Though the community decided to enter into a partnership with the New Canaan Community Foundation and Silver Hill Hospital to fund the successful Urgent Assessment Program, “I’m not quite sure what we are doing with all of these small donations to these other agencies,” she added. “My only argument is that if it truly is a really beneficial nonprofit that many people value, they will write checks for it,” Carlson said.

Bethany Zaro

Human Services: New Canaan Food Pantry Sees Record-High Demand

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Town officials say they saw record-high demand at the New Canaan Food Pantry in October. A total of 111 people were served by the pantry in the month, according to town Human Services Director Bethany Zaro. “We have surpassed any numbers, historically, in October,” Zaro said during the Nov. 2 Health & Human Services Commission meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

The town also saw a high number of Food Pantry clients at 108 in June, Zaro said, adding that Human Services just added two more families for the next distribution. 

Located at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, the Food Pantry provides non-perishable items to qualified individuals and families living in New Canaan.

News

Podcast: Silver Hill, Human Services on the New Canaan Urgent Assessment Program [Part 2 of 2]

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Dr. Andrew Gerber, president and medical director of Silver Hill Hospital, and Bethany Zaro, director of New Canaan’s Department of Human Services, about their partnership in developing and operating the Urgent Assessment Program. This is the second of a two-part series that focuses on mental health. The first part, an interview with Silver Hill and the Town Players of New Canaan about an upcoming production of “Ordinary People,” can be found here. 

Here are recent episodes:

Bethany Zaro

Podcast: New Canaan Food Pantry

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to the town’s Human Services Department director, Bethany Zaro, about the New Canaan Food Pantry—what it does, how it operates, how much use it gets, and how much it benefits from the generosity of local individuals, organizations and businesses. Located at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, the Food Pantry provides non-perishable items to qualified individuals and families living in New Canaan. Volunteers are needed during hours of operation to sort, stock and bag groceries. The Food Pantry is accepting food donations at St.