The National Charity League, Inc. (NCL), the nation’s premier mother-daughter volunteer organization with two operating chapters servicing the Ridgefield community, have joined efforts to support the food pantry at Ballard Green, The Ballard CountryStore, one of six locations in Ridgefield, originally created by the mission of Ruby’s Little Pantry.
Since the Covid pandemic, food insecurity and the demand to meet basic home and food necessities of those in need has increased. Unfortunately, this need has not diminished and extends beyond the efforts currently provided by Ridgefield Social Services.
Engaging the depth and scale of NCL, organized by school-age classes from 7th grade through 12th grade, it was determined that each class would own one month a year as a volunteer effort to collect donations and keep the pantry stocked.
The need to re-fill the pantry every month created an opportunity for the local NCL chapters to come together to ensure all 12 months of the year were covered. Today both Chapters, Ridgefield and Nutmeg, have committed to ensuring that the Ballard Country Store is stocked each month.
The full pop-up pantry is open, once a month, in the Ballard Green Common room, where all NCL volunteers collect donated food and organize items so those in need can shop for their staples with a store-like experience. Anything that is not distributed during the pop-up pantry day is placed in The Ballard Country Store little pantry inventory available on a need basis.
While the NCL Chapters have taken on the sourcing of donations and managing the monthly organization and distribution of goods for the pantry, they invite all in the Ridgefield community to donate and participate in keeping the pantry stocked and up and running for as long as there is a need. If interested in providing food pantry support please reach out to directly to Monica Stromwall, CT Housing Authority, mstromwall@cthousingpartners.org.
Do you want to make an impact in your local community? To get involved or learn more about NCLNutmeg Chapter email membershipnutmeg@nclonline.org or the NCL Ridgefield Chapter at MembershipRidgefieldArea@NCLOnline.org
Visit www.nationalcharityleague.org to find out more about the National organization.