TVCCA ANNUAL FOOD DRIVE TO RUN THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AT BIG Y IN NORWICH

Norwich — The 20th annual two-day food drive to benefit the Gemma E. Moran United Way/ Labor Food Bank will run from 6 a.m. Thursday through 7:30 p.m. Friday at Big Y in Norwich, with a live broadcast by WCTY-97.7 FM.

The Thames Valley Council for Community Action and the radio station will set up a booth in the Big Y parking lot at 224 Salem Turnpike, Norwich, and will collect donations of nonperishable food items and frozen turkeys — to be stored in Big Y’s freezer until delivery — to fill a Big Y trailer that will be delivered to the regional food center in New London. Cash donations also will be accepted.

The food center distributes the foods collected through the drive to more than 80 food pantries, shelters, childcare centers, community meal sites and programs for the elderly. All monetary donations support TVCCA’s Client Emergency Fund, which addresses critical needs not covered through other funding sources.

“Sometimes it’s just a little bit of food assistance that keeps a family from falling into crisis,” TVCCA Executive Director Deborah Monahan said in a press release announcing the annual food drive. “We see families who are really trying to remain self-sufficient, but just need a little help with food to get them through the month. That is what this food drive is meant to help.”

Most needed food items include pasta, soup and broth, brown and white rice, canned and dried beans, canned fish and meat, peanut butter, dry cereals and oatmeal, canned vegetables, tomato products, shelf-stable milk, jams and jellies, and 100 percent fruit juice. All donations should be in undamaged and unexpired packages. No glass containers are accepted.

WCTY will broadcast live from the event beginning at 6 a.m. Thursday running through 6 p.m. Friday.