Thanksgiving Drive to offset growing need for food assistance

In a year when demand for food pantry assistance has grown by up to 50 percent in some locations, Liberty Bank and Rotary Clubs across central and southeastern Connecticut have teamed up to make sure that local families in need enjoy a bountiful Thanksgiving dinner.

During the weeks before the holiday, Liberty Bank’s 36 branches partnered with 21 local Rotary Clubs to collect donations from employees, customers, and the public toward the sixth annual Liberty Bank/Rotary Club Thanksgiving Dinner Drive.

In all, $67,286 was raised. The Liberty Bank Foundation then matched every three dollars donated with a one-dollar donation, or another $22,928, for a grand total of $90,215. During the six years that the drive has been in operation, more than $368,000 has been raised to help put Thanksgiving on the tables of families in need.

Any funds raised over and above what is needed to supply Thanksgiving dinners will be donated to provide food for needy residents during the coming holiday season.

Rotary International is the world's first service club organization, with more than 1.2 million members in 33,000 clubs worldwide. Rotary club members are volunteers who work locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto Service Above Self.

Established in 1825, Liberty Bank is Connecticut’s oldest mutual bank, with more than $3 billion in assets and 36 banking offices throughout the central, eastern, and shoreline areas of the state. As a full-service financial institution, Liberty offers consumer and commercial banking, home mortgages, insurance, and investment services. Rated outstanding by federal regulators on its community reinvestment efforts, Liberty maintains a longstanding commitment to superior personal service and unparalleled community involvement.

Caption from photo (not shown):
Mike Walsh, president, Rotary Club of the Stoningtons; (l to r) and Sue Ferraro past president of Rotary Club of the Stoningtons and branch manager, Liberty Bank Mystic, presented a check in the amount of $1,078 to Vicki Anderson, executive director, Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center on November 23. This check was the result of a joint fund raising effort between the Stoningtons Rotary and Liberty Bank to help support the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center's Thanksgiving Food Drive.