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11/25/2019 11:00 PMAs North Haven residents prepare for a long Thanksgiving weekend full of family, food, and perhaps a little shopping, some members of the community are not only reminding us that not everyone can rely on a warm meal or clothing this season, they’re also making it exceptionally easy to help. A conversation with volunteers involved with a recent coat drive highlighted just how important such help can be.
For those who’d like to ensure all their neighbors have a full holiday meal, the churches of North Haven are once again sponsoring the North Haven Holiday Food Drive. Nonperishable food items can be brought to the food pantry at the North Haven Congregational Church, 26 Church Street, any weekday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Collection bins are also located at North Haven Town Hall, North Haven Memorial Library, Quinnipiac University School of Law, and several businesses in town. Gift cards, checks, or cash can be donated toward the purchase of perishable items. Checks should be payable to North Haven Congregational Church, with the indication “Food Drive” in the memo line, and sent to 28 Church Street, North Haven, CT 06473.
Christmas food boxes will be packed Dec. 20 for delivery the following morning. For more information or a list of drop-off businesses or needed food items, call 203-239-5691.
Through Friday, Nov. 29, residents seeking to warm veterans and individuals in need can participate in a clothing and coat drive sponsored by State Representative Dave Yaccarino (R-87). The event will be capped by a drop-off ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at the American Legion Post 76 Hall, 20 Church Street, North Haven. Items may be dropped off at McDonald’s, 129 Washington Avenue; Arnold’s Jewelers, 117 Washington Avenue; DJ’s Cards & Comics, 1 Lincoln Street; Bagelicious II, 91 Washington Street; and Yaccarino Automotive, 319 Washington Avenue. For more information, call 800-842-1423.
The Importance of Giving
North Haven’s coat drive, which wrapped up in October and provides necessary outerwear for a variety of groups in need, from veterans to the homeless, and especially victims of domestic violence, gives an excellent example of the affect a simple donation can make.
Resident Deb Zavarella has spearheaded the month-long event since its inception in 2013.
“A lot of coat drives are going on in December,” said Zavarella. “But before Thanksgiving is a good time for it. The kids are back in school and the weather starts to change. That is when people start to need them.”
A community service project that has grown from collecting 150 coats in its first year to 723 this year, Zavarella says she couldn’t have kickstarted it without the help of the town’s Community Services Department.
She has also networked and collaborated with others in the community to ensure the drive’s success, from identifying locations of collection boxes and dry cleaners who will clean dirty coats to coat distribution beyond North Haven.
Debbie Ferrigno has worked with Zavarella for the past three years to help distribute coats through connections from her job with a local nonprofit.
“I think [domestic violence] is an important cause,” said Ferrigno. “Definitely, there is a need to acknowledge there is a problem and people need help.”
Zavarella’s focus on supplying victims of domestic violence with coats started after an experience in her job as a 23-year employee of Stop & Shop.
As part of the company’s Food for Friends program, the store had left over boxes containing non-perishable items for Thanksgiving.
“After Thanksgiving, my manager wanted to donate them,” said Zavarella. “I said that I would love to donate them to victims of domestic violence.”
Through her struggle to reach victims with the food donations, she learned of their plight.
“I was so naïve at the time,” she said. “Everything is sealed. They can’t tell you where the shelters are, for safety reasons.”
Shelters and various organizations throughout Connecticut play a vital role in helping to protect and to provide important services to victims, according to the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV).
Zavarella works closely with the Umbrella Center for Domestic Violence Services (UCDVS), a program of the regional nonprofit BHcare, which is based in North Haven. The umbrella center is also one of the CCADV’s 18 domestic violence service organizations.
“What we do and what Deb has been helping with is supporting our domestic violence programs and services,” said Danielle Morfi, development coordinator, UCDVS.
Volunteers like Zavarella help stock shelters with “a collection of food and dry goods, and other necessities such as jackets and clothing.”
Unused coats from the North Haven drive are sent to My Sister’s Place, a donation center and family thrift shop in Ansonia.
“They sell the coats, but the money goes right back into the umbrella center,” said Zavarella.
These funds go toward creating the umbrella center’s “support system that someone would need in this type of situation,” said Morfi.
“Often times, if [victims] leave their homes, all they have are the shirts on their backs,” she adds.
The North Haven umbrella organization served more than 7,700 clients in the last year, according to Morfi.
This number makes up about 20 percent of the 37,773 total victims who were served by other member organizations of the CCADV in fiscal year 2019. This number doesn’t represent the total number of individuals victimized by domestic violence in Connecticut, according to the CCADV web site.
Incidents of domestic violence can affect individuals from all walks of life, according to Morfi.
“I am always trying to push back on the stigma associated with it,” said Morfi. “This isn’t just about poor people. It can affect anybody.”
Morfi points to the efforts of Zavarella as a welcome addition to supporting the umbrella center’s mission.
“She always wants to do more,” said Morfi. “I call her, and others like her, community warriors. That is what we need, people to raise awareness and help. It shouldn’t be a dirty little secret.”