To the Editor:

The Community Lunch Program for Kids (CLPK) of Norwood, Norfolk and Raymondville would like to express our sincerest appreciation to Stewart’s Shops for their recent donation of $500 from the Stewart’s Shops Matching Holiday Gift Fund!

Stewart’s has been a great supporter of CLPK since our program of addressing food insecurity began in 2016.

CLPK provides large boxes of nutritious food to local families when school is not in session and children do not have the “safety net” of the free/reduced breakfast/lunch program.

CLPK began in July of 2016 with 24 families with 51 children. Last year, 2020, CLPK distributed 33,151 meals to 306 unique children from 121 unique families in the Norwood Norfolk Raymondville area!

Because of the pandemic, we had food distributions every two weeks between March 13th and September 3rd. In total, we had 16 food distributions throughout the year, providing food for families over school vacations and breaks.

None of this would have been possible without the support of local individuals , churches, civic groups and businesses, like Stewart’s Shops!

We would also like to express our thanks to the customers of Stewart’s Shops! It is through the Matching Holiday Gift Fund that customers donate and Stewart’s Shops match the amount of that donation with a donation of their own.

St. Lawrence County is blessed to have Stewart’s Shops in this area!

Wendy Chambers

Community Lunch Program for Kids Norwood Norfolk and Raymondville