Shaw’s $60,000 grant fed kids all summer and boosted local food businesses
By Tulley Hescock | Community News Service 
A $60,000 grant to the Waterbury Recreation Department from Shaw’s parent grocery corporation Albertsons not only provided breakfasts and lunches for rec camp kids this summer -- it also gave a bunch of local businesses a welcome boost.
Recreation Director Nick Nadeau applied for the grant with two goals in mind: “one: boost the local economy and spend that money on kitchens that know what they're doing with food, and two: feed our kids good quality food.”
The $60,000 was shared among a half dozen local businesses that provided breakfast, snacks and lunch for about 130 kids each day for the eight weeks of camp that ended Aug. 13.
Each meal included fruit or salad and every day kids got to eat as if they were at a cafe:
Park Row Café served up breakfast sandwiches, mac and cheese, burgers, hotdogs, tacos; McGillicuddy’s packed up wraps and chicken tenders; Zachary’s provided pizzas, of course; Stowe Street Café sent sandwiches and wraps, mac and cheese, quesadillas, and cookies; Woodstock Farmers Market lunches included pulled pork, fruit, and snacks like fig bars. Cold Hollow Cider Mill supplied cider donuts and Shaw’s filled in with extra breakfast and snack items as needed, Nadeau said.
The quality food did not go unnoticed. Parent Kristen Brynga said her kids spoke highly of the food and were excited about each meal. Having meals be part of the program meant less stress for parents, too, she added. “It certainly made it easier for us throughout the summer because that was one less thing that we had to worry about, and it gave them some more variety than what we probably would have been packing for them,” she said.
Nadeau said he asked the participating restaurants and markets to charge full price for the food they supplied so as to help the business the most through the grant.
Store Director Kalan Ingalls said Shaw’s staff were happy to see the recreation program get the grant this summer. “Being able to support this great organization that does so much for families and kids really means a lot to us. We're happy to keep this local and are looking forward to engaging with this team not just through summer events like this one, but throughout the year," Ingalls said.
Although the corporate grant program has been in place for some time, store officials said they believed this was the first grant directly supporting a food program in the Waterbury community. The Recreation Department also received a $10,000 grant from Albertsons several months ago that was used to help purchase a van to support recreation programs.
On Wednesday, Aug. 4, the rec camp welcomed Shaw’s staffers at the town pool for a special lunch cookout to celebrate the grant and the collaboration with the grocery company. Shaw’s employees presented Nadeau and the recreation staff with a giant replica check from the company’s executives and district managers. They also worked the grills and served campers at the picnic.
Rec camp staff and kids, in turn, decorated and signed a giant thank-you banner for the occasion.
The outing ended up being smaller than expected since it took place just as several COVID-19 cases were identified in one of the rec camp groups. Some campers that day were absent due to contact tracing and testing while others were away that week with other family plans, Nadeau said.