Liberty Bank, Rotary Clubs Raise Over $132,000 to Help Fill Thanksgiving Food Baskets

Annual Thanksgiving Drive Raises Record Amount

MIDDLETOWN, CT — With a traditional Thanksgiving dinner costing about 13% more* than last year, and the unemployment rate still hovering around 9%, many Connecticut families are finding it difficult or impossible to pay for a holiday feast.  Liberty Bank and 27 Rotary Clubs throughout central, eastern, and shoreline Connecticut have teamed up to help them out, raising over $132,000 to provide Thanksgiving food for local families who cannot afford it. 

This year’s Liberty Bank/Rotary Club Thanksgiving Drive collected $107,307 in donations from employees, customers, and the public—a record total for the eight-year-old drive.  The Liberty Bank Foundation provided $25,000 in matching funds for a total of $132,307, which will go to supply Thanksgiving food in 33 towns served by Liberty Bank.

“It’s inspiring to see that even in this poor economy, people are willing to give so that their neighbors can share in the traditional holiday feast,” said Sue Murphy, executive director of the Liberty Bank Foundation.  “Thanks to the generosity of the public and the hard fundraising work of our Rotary partners, we’ll be able to supply almost 27,000 Thanksgiving meals* to households throughout Liberty Bank’s service area.”

Last year’s drive raised over $109,000. During the eight years the drive has been conducted, close to $600,000 has been raised.  All the funds are used to provide Thanksgiving food.  Some Rotary Clubs purchase and deliver Thanksgiving baskets themselves; some distribute grocery store gift cards; and others donate the funds to a local human service agency that supplies Thanksgiving food to local residents.

Rotary is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional, and community leaders. Members of Rotary clubs provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. There are 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Clubs are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds. As signified by the motto “Service Above Self,” Rotary’s main objective is service — in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world.

Established in 1825, Liberty Bank is Connecticut’s oldest mutual bank, with more than $3.4 billion in assets and 43 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.

Since its inception in 1997, the Liberty Bank Foundation has provided almost $6 million in grants to nonprofit organizations within Liberty Bank’s market area.  The foundation seeks to improve the quality of life for people of low or moderate income by investing in the areas of preventive programming for children and families, affordable housing, and non-profit capacity building.  In addition, the foundation is providing support to address basic human needs during these difficult economic times.  Along with its grantmaking, the foundation strives to foster the convening and collaboration of non-profits, funders, business, and government to address community issues.