(Salvation Army staff, volunteers, friends, and Rotary members pose with some of the donations.)

Glastonbury Rotary, The Gallery Restaurant,
and Area Supermarkets Partner for Infants

A great gift for the Holiday Store's Opening Day

GLASTONBURY - For over fifteen years, The Glastonbury Rotary Club has been delivering cases of baby supplies to The Salvation Army’s Holiday Store.

Every holiday season, The Salvation Army collects food, toys, clothing, and money for the disadvantaged. Some of the things needed most, but rarely received, are baby supplies – diapers, food, formula, and wipes. The Glastonbury Rotary Baby Needs Drive addresses this issue.

(Next, the donations are loaded onto one of The Salvation Army's trucks.)

Rotary meets every Monday evening for dinner at The Gallery Restaurant. Each member pays $20 for a meal. In early December, a meeting is held where instead of dining on The Gallery’s regular fare, members are served meatball subs, chips, and cookies on paper plates and water in plastic cups. Owner and Rotarian Pam McCue charges the club her minimal cost for the meal, her staff volunteers to serve, and the "profits" are used to help fund the purchase of baby products.

Since 1996, Gardiner’s Market and Highland Park Market have teamed with Rotary in this annual event. In 2004, the Super Stop & Shop at Somerset Square joined the project and 2009 brought Whole Foods Market to the supermarket team.

(Seasonal Salvation Army staff are happy to help!)

Each store donates $250 and Rotary adds another $750 per store to bring the total donation of baby food to $4,000. This year, Salvation Army personnel James V. Gordon, Director of Public Relations and Marketing, and Lisa Cretella, Director of Development, wore their traditional Salvation Army pajamas for opening day at the Holiday Store on December 13 to accept the delivery of four truck loads of baby supplies.

The Glastonbury Rotary Club, along with the participation of The Gallery Restaurant and the four major supermarkets in Glastonbury, once again addressed an important community need with this generous donation.

For more information about Rotary, just ask a Rotarian or visit the Rotary website at: www.glastonburyrotaryclub.org.