Local high school student supplies food for local food pantries

By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo

While the average high school student may welcome summer because of all the freedoms and personal indulgences it affords, one Norfolk teenager sees summer as an opportunity to be completely selfless. Sophomore Morgan Daley recently started “Full for the Summer,” an independent endeavor to supply food to local food banks in the summer months.

According to End Hunger Connecticut, an anti-hunger and food security organization, only 27 of every 100 kids who participate in the federal free lunch program in the Conn. public school system take advantage of a summer meal program. This translates into two-thirds of children living in poverty unable to secure even one solid meal a day when school is not in session. While some may feel this isn’t a pressing local problem, Salisbury and Colebrook are the only towns in the Northwest Corner with less than five percent of their residents living at or under the poverty level.

Daley’s interest in supporting food banks began as a child. As a Botelle student, Daley was involved with a program that sent care packages to soliders. In addition her parents, Amy and Neil, supported Thanksgiving food drives every year by setting a budget for their four children to purchase food for those in need. Her mom set the budget, but left the coupon hunting and food shopping up to the kids. “It was a good lesson for them on a couple levels,” says Amy Daley. “They learned the valuable skill of managing money and sticking to a budget, but also were helping people in need.”

A straight-A student in all honors and AP classes at Northwest Regional Seven, and a three-sport athlete, Morgan Daley still finds time for coupon hunting on the internet, as well as in print media. She says that while the temptation is great to buy as much food as possible for the least amount of money, she is cautious to only buy foods that are relatively healthy, will appeal to children, and, most importantly, are easy for children to prepare themselves. This summer, she will be supplying food to three local food pantries, Norfolk Food Pantry (at Church of Christ) and two in Torrington—Friends in Service to Humanity (FISH) Food Pantry and Friendly Hands Food Bank.

The oldest of four children (Daley’s brother Sloan is also at Northwest Regional Seven, and her two younger siblings, Erin and Logan, are at Botelle), Morgan Daley’s concern for hungry kids in our area is likely to have a ripple effect. Her crowdfunding page on the “You Caring” site raised $275 in May, and she hopes to meet her $1,000 goal by the end of June. The Norfolk Connecticut Children’s Foundation offered her a matching grant of up to $500 for every dollar she receives.

“It’s been very heartwarming to see such support from my community,” says Daley. “I am happy to have this project for the summer, and have some feeling of personal accomplishment.”

Donations to Morgan Daley’s crowdfunding page can be made by visiting www.youcaring.com and entering “Full for the Summer” in the “Search for a Fundraiser” box.

Photo by Amy Daley.