‘We Support Bread for Life – Just Not the Plan’

Partnerships between the Southington Board of Education and Bread for Life have helped make a difference in the community. The two have worked to bring breakfast opportunities to all schools, has shared resources in times of need and offered opportunities to support each other financially.

Board of Education Chairman Brian Goralski said he hopes the efforts will continue – just not with a proposed new facility that would serve to those in need located right next to the town’s largest elementary school.

Goralski and members of the Board of Education have backed parents that have expressed concerns, reaching a consensus and sending notice to Planning and Zoning Chairman Mike DelSanto that they do not support the development of a new Southington Bread for Life facility next to Derynoski Elementary School.

“It was unanimous with all nine members,” Goralski said. “The board is taking a simple position, we don’t support the plan. We do support Bread for Life and all they do, have worked well with them in the past and hope that continues.”

The organization last month submitted a proposal calling for development of a 3,200-square-foot building next to the school in an effort to bring all operations to one location.

Currently, Bread for Life prepares lunches are prepared and served in one place, food is stored in three other places and the organizations offices are in a separate location altogether, director Eldon Hafford said. Besides having everything under one roof, the new building would allow the organization to prepare for future expansion.

Bread for Life Board President Bill McDougall could not be reached for further comment Monday.

The proposal, however, has drawn concerns from parents and Board of Education members alike. Many expressed concerns that while the services “are necessary for the community,” they also don’t discriminate and it could mean having convicted felons and recovering drug addicts walking by the school on a daily basis.

Heidi Matusik, a mother of a fifth-grade Derynoski student, said the mission of the group is honorable but in that making sure “no one goes hungry,” there are potential hazards that could put the town’s elementary school children at risk.

“They provide anyone meal who needs meal, but the truth is everyone getting a meal shouldn’t necessarily be near the school,” Matusik said. “Inevitably those with sex offender history, mental illness or who are struggling with addiction will be in that group.”

Goralski said with the recent issues in Newtown and an ongoing promise that safety will remain the district’s top priority, the Board of Education needs to stand by these parents.

Others in the community have argued that taking too much of a stance against this proposal can make Southington look bad and places a negative eye on anyone in town struggling to make ends meet.

At the Southington Town Council meeting Monday night, William Knoegel said it’s time for the community to look more realistically and find a compromise, one that will serve in the best interest of the students and those in need.

“I can understand the concern with the proximity to the school, but the depiction of those underemployed and unemployed as degenerates is unacceptable,” Knoegel said. “I am concerned that parents are somehow making the poor or underprivileged look like social pariahs and that’s not something the town should be known for.”

A public input session on Oct. 15 in the Council Chambers at Southington Town Hall. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

Where do you stand on Bread for Life building next to Derynoski?

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