Around Town

NCHS Junior Launches ‘Fashion Forward’ To Collect Prom Dresses for Open Doors in Norwalk

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New Canaan High School junior Adelaide Tuff first visited Open Doors about two years ago. 

Her family had already been involved in the Norwalk shelter and support services organization, making about 1,000 sandwiches during the pandemic. Her older brother, Oliver, founded Feeding 500, which sees dozens of NCHS and Darien students raise money for the Open Doors food program. “They didn’t really have many donors who were able to donate food during that time, just because of the overwhelming amount of need they had,” Adelaide Tuff recalled. “So once I saw my brother do that, I had a realization that I wanted to do something like that, as well, because we’ve been involved for so long.”

She did. 

Last year, Tuff held a clothing drive for the Open Doors “Community Closet,” a free store where families in need can shop for seasonal clothing, shoes and household necessities. She led an effort to collect 45 large bags of clothing—about 1,500 items for the Community Closet.

Around Town

Podcast: NCHS Junior Oliver Tuff, Founder of ‘Feeding 500’

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to New Canaan High School junior Oliver Tuff, founder and president of Feeding 500. Since its founding last year, Feeding 500 has drawn dozens of NCHS and Darien High School students who raise money for the food program at Open Doors in Norwalk. Upcoming events that the organization is supporting include food drives at NCHS and Walter Stewart’s Market starting this month, and at the Nov. 21 Turkey Trot. Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

Open Door Shelter

16th Annual New Canaan Turkey Trot

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Run, jog or walk for a cause in the 16th Annual New Canaan Turkey Trot. Organized and by a team of New Canaan and Weston students, all proceeds from this 5k run will benefit the Open Door Shelter in Norwalk, a non profit that provides critical support to individuals and families in need.

Amy Williams

‘A Rare and Wonderful Thing’: Local Teens, Families Gear Up for 2018 New Canaan Turkey Trot [UPDATED]

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Note: Due to a snowstorm, the 2018 Turkey Trot has been moved to the Sunday after Thanksgiving—Nov. 25. New Canaan High School senior Brielle Connelly first got involved in the Turkey Trot three years ago, as a member of its organizing committee. 

She’d visited the annual fundraiser’s beneficiary organization, Open Doors in Norwalk—a nonprofit that provides shelter, food, clothing, case management and other services to homeless people—and the visit made a strong impression on her. “I met the people that go there and they were so grateful for us being able to come,” Connelly said. “They knew the Turkey Trot and I though tit was really special to be able to do something fun that was a community event and for kids to appreciate the people in our area.