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To help address a need and support pantries feeding families across the state of Connecticut, the Connecticut Milk Promotion Board launched the Connecticut Dairy Farmer to Food Pantry Cooler Grant Program in coordination with New England Dairy in locations including Middletown.

Dairy farmers nominated food pantries who they suggested receive coolers to keep milk and dairy products cold and safe during distribution to individuals and families in need.

To help address a need and support pantries feeding families across the state of Connecticut, the Connecticut Milk Promotion Board launched the Connecticut Dairy Farmer to Food Pantry Cooler Grant Program in coordination with New England Dairy in locations including Middletown.

To help address a need and support pantries feeding families across the state of Connecticut, the Connecticut Milk Promotion Board launched the Connecticut Dairy Farmer to Food Pantry Cooler Grant Program in coordination with New England Dairy in locations including Middletown.

MIDDLETOWN — Milk is one of the most requested items at food banks, but the least available.

To help address this need, and support pantries feeding families across the state of Connecticut, the Connecticut Milk Promotion Board launched the Connecticut Dairy Farmer to Food Pantry Cooler Grant Program in coordination with New England Dairy, according to a press release.

During this initiative, dairy farmers nominated food pantries who they suggested receive coolers to keep milk and dairy products cold and safe during distribution to individuals and families in need, according to the news release.

The grant provided 21 food pantries across the state, including the Salvation Army one in Middletown, with refrigerated coolers and funds to initially stock the coolers with dairy products for their communities. Each cooler can hold 64 gallons of milk.

The press release said that, in three months, COVID-19 drove unemployment rates higher than at any point during the two years of the Great Recession, according to PewResearch.org. In 2020, more than 54 million Americans may face hunger due to impacts of the coronavirus, an increase from 37 million pre-pandemic, according to Feeding America.

The Connecticut Food Bank reported in June that in its six-county service area, the food insecurity rate had increased by 44 percent from 277,000 people to nearly 400,000 people.

Salvation Army food pantries in Danbury and Meriden also each received one of the coolers. “It is always great to have partners that are willing to fight the hunger alongside us,” Capt. Jose Hernandez, of the Salvation Army in Middletown, said in a prepared statement. “We are very grateful.”