BCF Continues Its Support of Community Dining Room Efforts

From its inception over 25 years ago, the Community Dining Room’s mission is to end hunger and isolation with food, fellowship, referrals and education.

With increasing unemployment, family budgets are being stretched beyond their limits. Last year, the Community Dining Room provided 54,580 meals, 1000 meals every week – an increase of 6.6% in its delivery and on-sight nutrition programs.

Food in the refrigerator for after-school snacks or a family dinner can help a great deal in a weekly budget. Identifying this need, the CDR began a program for individuals and families who have lost their jobs: Wednesday Night Take Out. This program provides quality meals for families who cannot come to the CDR daily lunch program and struggle to feed their children and keep them healthy. Branford Community Foundation dollars have directly helped fund this program.

CDR programs include daily lunch, Saturday breakfast, Tuesday Family Dinner, home delivery and our Wednesday Night Take Out. CDR also provides community service opportunities for youth and vocational training for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Community Dining Room is an important part of the Branford social service network, helping to assure a quality standard of living for all our neighbors. Between 2010 and 2013, the Community Dining Room has received a total of $29,000. in funding from the Branford Community Foundation.