Photos: Elementary School Students "Stuff The Bus"

Students from all three elementary schools donated canned goods to Waterford’s food locker Tuesday morning as part of Waterford Youth Service’s “Stuff the Bus” campaign.

The four-women crew from Waterford Youth Services drove to all three elementary schools in a school bus to collect canned goods for Waterford’s interfaith food locker, located at Town Hall. Last year, the event garnered 3,500 pieces of food, and this year seemed even more productive, Youth Services Director Dani Gorman said.

A True Need

The “Stuff the Bus” program is essential to ensure the food locker has enough to make it through the holiday season, Nancy Long said, who helps run the locker. Right now, the locker is nearly empty, so it needed this, Long said.

Over the last few years, more people than ever have used the food locker, Long said. For some, it is very difficult to ask for help, she said.

“You can almost see the embarrassment in their faces,” Long said. “We try to make it as comfortable as possible for them.”

If anybody wants to donate to the food locker, or receive food from the locker call Town Hall at (860) 442-0553. All transactions will be kept confidential, and no questions will be asked of anybody who asks for food.