120 holiday food baskets delivered

FARMINGTON — The Franklin County Chamber of Commerce has provided 120 holiday food baskets to families and neighbors in need.

Thanks to the generosity of local businesses and individuals, the chamber’s Gerry Wiles Food Basket program is also donating to local food pantries.

The holiday meals with all the trimmings and dessert for a family were prepared by four chamber-member grocers: Food City, Hannaford, Tranten’s Market and Walmart. The baskets were distributed at the chamber office to families who had completed applications.

The chamber will also make donations to all nine Franklin County food pantries to help them meet the season’s demand. The money donated to the Care and Share Food Pantry in Farmington and the Wilton Area Food Pantry will be doubled through a matching grant.

By making these donations, the food pantries are able to make this money go even further by purchasing food at the Good Shepard Food Bank where every dollar spent there is multiplied to provide for families in need.

Franklin Memorial Hospital hosted the annual Meal for a Meal program in its cafeteria Nov. 28, raising more than $2,000 to support the food basket program.