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08/03/2022 08:30 AMTwo juices, two snacks, two cereals and more, packed in bags. That’s how Ginger Vickstrom got started volunteering with Feed Branford Kids (FBK).
That was about four years ago, when Ginger joined FBK’s volunteer corps of like-minded community members who help make this Branford-based non-profit tick.
Ginger served as Branford School Aged Child Care (SACC) director for 14 years before she retired.
“That was a great job; and I felt like I was leaving all my family, between the staff and the kids,” she says.
In retirement, finding a place where she knew she would be able to continue helping kids was important. That’s how Ginger found FBK.
“When I retired, I knew I wanted to do something, and a friend of mine was packing. So I said, ’I’ll try that,’-- because to me, it’s all about the kids. So that’s what I did. I started packing.”
Launched in 2014 by the vision of co-founder the late Johanna Pantani, FBK relies on volunteers and community contributions to provide provisions for bags packed with a weekend’s worth of breakfast, lunch and snacks to help feed kids when they aren’t in school.
Ginger’s “I’ll do it” nature was a natural fit as an FBK volunteer. Once she started volunteering, she began helping more and more, taking over “little bits and pieces” to assist the program, she says.
As described by FBK co-founder and board member Sue Barnes, “... when Ginger takes on a position, joins a group, has a job, volunteers for an organization, she puts her heart and soul into her work for that organization. No task is too menial. No challenge is too great. She performs either - and everything in between - with the same energy, gusto and determination, always with great success.”
Soon, Ginger was asked to join the FBK board, and served as its secretary. Barnes shares that Ginger’s creativity has also helped the FBK team produce fabulous fundraising galas, including her special touch when putting together especially stunning displays of auction offerings.
Simply put, says Barnes, “...what a gift she has been!”
For all of her contributions to FBK, Ginger has just been named as a recipient of Shore Publishing’s 2022 Beacon Awards, which will be bestowed during a celebratory event in the fall. Now in its 10th year, Beacon Awards recognize the shoreline’s outstanding individuals who give service to others, thereby enriching our communities.
Ginger is now retired from the FBK board, but she hasn’t stopped volunteering as a packer for FBK.
“I’m proud to be part of this, because I think it’s so needed,” says Ginger. “Still, a lot people don’t realize there’s a need. When I ran the SACC program, I saw the need through that. It was hard for me to realize. I think it was a real eye-opener that the need was there, but not very visible.”
As FBK notes at its website (https://feedbranfordkids.net) over one-third of Branford students are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches, giving a very visible demonstration of the need and level of food insecurity facing Branford kids.
During the school year, by coordinating with Branford Public Schools (BPS), FBK’s pre-packed weekend food bags, which are small enough to fit in a backpack, are confidentially placed in backpacks of kids being assisted by the program. For the month of May, 2022, FBK provided 478 bags of weekend meals and snacks to Branford school children, Ginger shares.
During the summer, school is out, but FBK continues to provide and offer bags packed with weekend meals and snacks. Volunteers deliver to families requesting packages, while board members help man the warehouse once a week to hand bags out. FBK is open for Branford residents to pick up bags every Thursday this summer, from 5 – 6 p.m. FBK is located at 33 Business Park Drive (behind West Marine); look for the FBK sandwich board sign.
“Last week, they had warehouse pickup [for] families and we gave out 46 bags; and then we had 22 people out for deliveries,” says Ginger. “There are people that would not come to the warehouse but they need the food; but that sense of pride keeps them from doing it.”
For anyone who comes to the FBK warehouse, expect a smile and no questions asked.
“We ask no questions, there is no requirement,” says Ginger. “I don’t know their names. They come in here every week and we smile because we know their faces, but that’s all we know about them.”
A small “Grab and Go” shelf station inside the warehouse entrance is also there to help on Thursdays, when guests can take away their choice of canned goods and other shelf-stable provisions to help stretch grocery budgets a bit.
With the added pressure of economic inflation and rising food costs, Ginger says more residents are finding that programs like FBK can be of assistance while also showing that the community cares.
As SACC director, Ginger recalls participating in a Community Dining Room (CDR) summer community dinner on the Branford green a few years back.
“SACC set up a little craft booth one year, and I think there were about 25 families,” says Ginger. “Last night, I drove by the green and, wow!”
This summer, upwards of 300 have been turning out for the free CDR program. Dinners are being donated by local restaurants; the night also offer free family activities and entertainment (learn more at https://www.communitydiningroom.org). As previously reported, CDR kicked off this year’s summer series of free community dinners on the Branford green July 5 and will continue each Tuesday, 5 – 7 p.m., through August 23.
“A lot of people can’t go to nice restaurants, and the nice restaurants are coming to them. That’s Branford,” says Ginger. “It was so great to see all of those people! My husband said, ‘Can we go?’”
Ginger and her husband, Ray, have been married 57 years and raised their family here. While Ginger isn’t a Branford native, Ray sure is, she adds.
“My husband was born here – literally, born on the porch! So he’s never left Branford.”
Ginger says she’s loved kids since she was kid.
“I think that I was 6 when my sister was born, and that was my first child!” she says. “So that was the start of my love of children – small ones, big ones, it doesn’t matter! I just want them to feel happy and safe. That’s who I am. I think it’s important.”
Speaking of big kids, FBK is assisted by two groups from Branford High School who come and help pack during the school year, which is “a wonderful experience,” says Ginger.
FBK always welcomes volunteers, as well as donations and monetary contributions to assist with its mission.
Ginger says Branford is a generous community and FBK appreciates all of the support it receives.
“I think that we don’t realize how generous Branford is. They find unique ways to give to us, like holding food drives, and if we have a fundraiser, there’s always a good turnout,” says Ginger. “They’re so good to us! Without them, what would we do?”