On Tuesday, Dec. 5, a team from Stew Leonard’s volunteered at Norwalk-based Filling In The Blanks, which fights childhood hunger by providing children in need with meals on the weekends. Stew’s volunteers filled more than 2,500 bags of food that morning. Beth Leonard Hollis, daughter of the late store founder Stew Leonard Sr., was recently introduced to the organization’s founders Shawnee Knight and Tina Kramer, and knew that their mission aligned perfectly with Stew Leonard’s and the Leonard family.
Beth said, “I think back to our grandfather, Charles Leo Leonard, when he was delivering milk during the depression. One day there was a note on the door of one of his customers. It said, ‘No milk today.’ My grandfather knew that they had a houseful of children and babies who needed milk, but the family couldn’t afford to pay. My grandfather delivered it anyway and said, ‘I will be the one to decide when you stop your milk delivery. Pay me when you can.’ That family still shops at Stew’s today.”
Stew Leonard’s is currently donating milk, bread and yogurt to Filling In the Blanks’ mobile pantry and is working to organize another morning of service with Stew Leonard’s volunteers.
