In a single day, Waterbury Mutual Aid secured 8 full pallets (504 boxes) from the USDA Farmers to Families program. 3 pallets (a little more than our standard allotment) came through the regular Waterbury supply chain. The other 5 came through an allied organization in Hartford with contacts at a major food support supplier.
This was WMA’s largest 1-day acquisition of F2F boxes since we began requesting access in summer 2020, when the project first came to Waterbury. And it set a new mark for number of boxes stored in our climate-controlled trailer at 441 boxes.
This was the second time WMA helped this ally get F2F boxes from this supplier. Working with this project at scale requires industrial-level logistical equipment. A single pallet of 63 F2F boxes weighs nearly 2,000 lbs. WMA has developed expertise with this equipment and can now help allied organizations access larger quantities of this resource.
Like the first time, WMA immediately delivered in Hartford and then stored the remainder in Waterbury, allowing several small orgs and informal networks to come get boxes. These boxes ultimately reached families in Bridgeport, Middletown, Hartford, East Hartford/Manchester, Meriden and Waterbury.
If you are a small, grassroots organization or informal group of activists in CT, we might be able to help you access Farmers to Families food boxes. Please send an email to info@waterburymutualaid.com to become part of our network.
Participating organizations will need to come to Waterbury with enough/big enough cars to carry the boxes you need. Boxes weigh about 30 lbs. each. A Camry with an empty trunk and backseat fits about 15 boxes weighing a total of 450 lbs. A pickup truck fits about 25.
Waterbury Mutual Aid 