In towns all across America, community centers and shelters look to provide food and care resources to their residents in need. In the town of Hamden, one of the most prominent is the Keefe Community Center, located on Pine Street.
According to the Hamden website, the center’s mission is to “enhance the quality of life of all Hamden residents by providing educational, recreational, and social values through coordinated or direct services.”
The center upholds these values by providing services throughout the holiday season. Program specialist Anne Marie Karavais said they already have events in place to aid the needs of the town.
One of their upcoming events is the Hamden Kids Holiday Toy Drive for the Christmas season. This event runs on three days next month: Dec. 3, 10, and 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Hamden residents can call us that need help with toys, to give their kids a happy holiday,” Karavais said.
Town residents will be able to drop off their toy donations at the Hamden Mart parking lot, located at 2300 Dixwell Ave. Gift suggestions include: dolls, trucks, legos, movie passes, gift cards, soccer balls, basketballs, footballs, craft kits, and remote control cars.
What’s more, Karavais said the town is also running an adopt-a-family program for the holidays.
“There’s a form online, where they (town residents) can fill out. Then I’ll find families with the clients that we use and I’ll send them a wishlist and the families that could afford to adopt a family, they do,” Karavais said.
Karavais said that while these events were big ticket items last year, the roll-in of donations has been slower, a change that Karavais attributes to economic inflation. However, no documentation links inflation to the slower donation turnout.
Despite these struggles, Karavais said she is still hoping each child leaves the toy drive with at least three new toys in hand. She also said she is expecting demand to grow, as the center delivered to more than 1,000 kids last year. The center will also only be delivered to children ages infant – sixth grade this year, in comparison to ages infant – 12th-grade last year, Karavais explained.
The center also held events over the past couple of weeks that will run over the Thanksgiving holiday.
One of these events was the annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. Karavais said the event started two weeks ago on Nov. 4. Clients could call in during that time to request a Thanksgiving basket. Five hundred and sixty-five families requested meals for this holiday season.
Families in need will receive a basket with one turkey and sides, such as green beans, sweet peas, and sweet corn. However, the center is short on sides like mashed potatoes, yams, and rice, according to Karavais.
Donations for this event were very successful and the turkeys were “flying in like crazy,” she said.
Hamden Boy Scouts also held a food drive Saturday, Nov 12. The boy scouts put yellow bags on the doorsteps of Hamden residents, who filled them with various food items. Then the boy scouts would collect the bags to be delivered to the center. Karavais said the boy scouts helped deliver an additional 720 pounds of food, which will also aid in the upcoming holiday season.
There’s room for volunteer work during the holidays, Karavais said. Keefe Center is packing up 650 Thanksgiving baskets this week and will also be packing toys for the toy drive once the holiday season ends. Much of the volunteer work comes from packing and sorting, according to Karavais.
Many of the center’s events, and other events in the town, can be found on their Facebook page. Residents can reach out to Karavais for more info and volunteer work at 203-562-5129 Ext 1110.