Meet Rick
When Rick needed help putting food on the table, asking for it was the hardest part. That's because Rick wasn't used to being the one receiving help.
After serving in the U.S. Army in the late 1960s, he returned home and dedicated decades to serving his hometown of Torrington. He ran youth programs, helped build local recreation spaces, advocated for local veterans, and managed emergency response efforts during disasters.
In fact, before ever visiting a food pantry himself, Rick was helping Friendly Hands Food Bank, a Connecticut Foodshare partner and the largest food pantry in the Northwest Corner.
"I ran the community service program in town. We used to go down and do work all the time. I had volunteers there constantly."
Rick even made the long drive to pick up food from one of Connecticut Foodshare's original facilities along the shoreline.
Years later, Rick has seen firsthand how much the need has grown - together, Connecticut Foodshare and Friendly Hands are helping more neighbors than ever before. Over the last year, Connecticut Foodshare provided more than 630,000 meals worth of food to Friendly Hands – enough to support a monthly average increase of 450 people seeking help in the Northwest Corner. Much of that food is healthy, nutritionally dense food for neighbors like Rick.
Veterans spend their lives serving others. They are trained to push through challenges, take care of the people around them, and never ask for more than they need. As Rick knows too well, "They're very, very proud."
But no veteran should have to face hunger alone.
At Friendly Hands Food Bank, veterans are welcomed with friendship, dignity, and support. The organization even created a Veterans Hospitality Room, which Rick now leads.
"Every veteran that comes in here gets food. They're very grateful and thankful that this place is here. This place does phenomenal things. I have never been to an organization where every person is friendly and helpful, there's not one bad attitude out there. They're amazing."
Rick has a message for anyone who may be struggling:
"Don't be proud. If there's help available to you, take it, because you're going to go home hungry when you don't have to. I can speak from experience that there's times that maybe I would have gone hungry if I didn't come here and get something."
This Veterans Day, let's honor the people who served our country not only with our thanks, but with our actions.
