Archive for the ‘Bridgeport’ Category

Bridgeport Rescue Mission needs turkeys!

Monday, November 5, 2012 by:Amanda Cuda

Bridgeport Rescue Mission will soon begin packing 3,000 Thanksgiving Dinner Pantry Boxes that will be distributed to near-homeless and working-poor families in Bridgeport and South Norwalk. The boxes will be filled with all the fixings—including frozen turkeys—that poverty-stricken men, women and children need to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in their own homes.

Executive Director Terry Wilcox said the Mission needs to receive 3,500 frozen turkeys—12 to 24 pounds each—to ensure no one in need will go without a turkey for Thanksgiving. Donated turkeys are also used in the Thanksgiving Day dinners the Mission will distribute to hungry and homeless people from their Mobile Kitchen and in the meals that will be served to Mission students and needy men, women and children from their main dining room.

Cclose to 90 percent of the food items used in the more than 600,000 meals the Mission provides at the holidays and throughout the year are donated by individuals, companies and church congregations who organize food drives. The Mission also needs the basics such as stuffing mix, canned sweet potatoes, peas, corn, green beans and cranberry sauce and shares a complete list of items needed on their website at www.BridgeportRescueMission.org.

Frozen turkeys can be dropped off at the Mission’s Donation Center, 1069 Connecticut Avenue, Unit 2-B, Bridgeport, every Tuesday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can also donate “virtual” turkeys by making a gift of $20 for each bird you would like to contribute. Financial donations can be made online at www.BridgeportRescueMission.org.

Good Samaritan helps snuff Bridgeport house fire

Thursday, November 1, 2012 by:Brittany Lyte

Maurice Bacon was driving down Garfield Avenue in Bridgeport when he looked left and saw fire and smoke billowing from the second story porch of a three-family home.

He parked and jumped out of the car.

“Anybody in the house?” he hollered.

Running toward the front door, he saw three people on the burning porch throwing pots of water onto the flames.

Bacon ran into the house, filled up a pot with water from the kitchen sink faucet and helped the trio water down the fire.

“I hope somebody would do the same if it was my house,” said Bacon, who is 55 and lives in the city’s North End. “If we didn’t get up there and throw water, it would have been a lot worse.”

Joe Blakeman, a Sandy Hook resident who has been staying with friends at the Garfield Avenue home since the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, said no one was home when the fire started. He and two friends were returning to the house from the Trumbull Mall when they saw the front porch engulfed in smoke and fire. He said he thinks a nearby tangle of power lines battered by the storm ignited the fire.

Blakeman parked and ran into the house, kicking down the door to the second-story unit to reach the flames. He and his friends started splashing the fire with water to prevent it from spreading inside the home.

Without Bacon’s help, he said the damage would have been much worse.

Hawk kills, eats squirrel outside Bridgeport daycare

Thursday, October 18, 2012 by:Brittany Lyte

Pedestrians on the 500 block of State Street Tuesday afternoon caught a glimpse of a hawk sinking its talons into the back of a squirrel and then territorially eating its prey.

The attack, which took place outside the Care Around The Clock childcare center, caught the attention of a small number of passersby, who pulled out cell phone cameras to document the violent scene.

Bridgeport Rescue Mission sponsors paddle tennis marathon.

Thursday, October 18, 2012 by:Amanda Cuda

The folks at Bridgeport Rescue Mission are looking to give hunger a good paddling this weekend.

Starting at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19, more than 150 people will play paddle tennis into the wee hours of the night hoping to raise $50,000 for Bridgeport Rescue Mission during the Paddle Against Hunger charity marathon at The Patterson Club. The event concludes at 6 p.m. Saturday. During last year’s event which raised $32,000 at least one of The Patterson Club’s paddle courts was in use during each of the 24 hours, and for 14 of those hours, all four courts were filled with players supporting the cause.

This first-of-its-kind event was the brainchild of members and paddle enthusiasts Joe Murphy and Dave Amendola, who worked with the leadership team and staff at the Club to pull it off. The team was thrilled with the level of participation and enthusiasm for the event last year and determined to do it again in 2012.

Proceeds from the marathon will come at a critical time for Bridgeport Rescue Mission as they provide food and shelter this winter.

Executive Director Terry Wilcox invites others who would like to make a contribution to help Bridgeport Rescue Mission care for the homeless throughout the winter months to donate online at www.BridgeportRescueMission.org.

Church to host Himes and Murphy

Monday, October 15, 2012 by:Stacy Davis

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East End Baptist Tabernacle Church will host a “Get Out and Vote Rally” Thursday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. Guests will include Congressmen Jim Himes, Chris Murphy and Rev. Dr. Franklyn Richardson, the National Action Network Board Chair.

The church is located at 548 Central Ave. For more information, contact the pastor, Rev. Dr. C.L. Stallworth at 203-333-3036.

The rally is sponsored by the CT State Baptist Convention.

Lifetime announces air date for TV movie about Carlina White

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 by:Amanda Cuda

The Lifetime movie about Carlina White — the baby stolen from Harlem Hospital in 1987 and raised in Bridgeport by Ann Pettway — will make its debut Saturday, Oct. 6. Lifetime put out a release announcing the air date on Tuesday. The movie “Abducted: The Carlina White Story,” stars Aunjanue Ellis (The Help) as Pettway, and Keke Palmer (True Jackson, VP) as Carlina, whom Pettway raised as Nejdra “Netty” Nance. The movie also stars “The View” co-host Sherri Shepherd.

Immediately following the movie, Lifetime will premiere the hour-long documentary, Beyond the Headlines: Carlina White, featuring interviews with Carlina telling her own story, as well as her birth parents and the family of her kidnapper as they offer their own perspectives about the case.

Goodwill to dole out school supplies to area students

Thursday, August 23, 2012 by:Amanda Cuda

When students return to eight Connecticut schools — including two spots in Bridgeport — Goodwill Industries of Northern and Western Connecticut will greet them with brand new backpacks filled with school supplies. Each backpack will contain essential supplies to help students begin the school year with the tools they need to succeed. Schools benefiting from the program this year include Duggan and Woodrow Wilson Schools in Waterbury, Silver Lane Elementary in East Hartford, Shelter Rock School in Danbury, Wish School in Hartford, Kendall Elementary in Norwalk and Beardsley and Waltersville Schools in Bridgeport.

In all, 3,500 backpacks will be distributed to students courtesy of Goodwill. The schools were selected based on the needs of the community and their proximity to a Goodwill location.

Goodwill will distribute backpacks to each school at 10 a.m. starting on Tuesday, August 28, 2012 with Duggan School. Beardsley School and Waltersville School will receive their backpacks on Sept. 5 and Sept. 6, respectively.

Goodwill Industries of Western Connecticut is a non-profit organization that provides employment and support services to people with disabilities and other challenges to employment.

Blackhawks and Bluefish to raise money for veterans Saturday

Thursday, August 16, 2012 by:Rob Varnon

Sikorsky Aircraft with Teamsters Local 1150 is once again descending, literally, upon the Ballpark at Harbor Yard to raise money for veterans during a Bluefish game.

The world’s largest helicopter maker, headquartered in Stratford, will fly one of its aircraft into the Bridgeport ballpark before the game, delivering Sikorsky President Mick Maurer and Local 1150 Secretary-Treasurer Rocco Calo to throw out the first pitch in the Sikorsky Salutes Veterans night game. Other dignitaries will also attend.

The landing is expected around 5:15 p.m. and last year’s Sikorsky even sold out. The first batter of the game between the Bridgeport Bluefish and the Somerset Patriots is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

This is the second year Sikorsky has teamed with the Bluefish to raise money for veterans charities. Last year, the ballpark sold out for the game and $15,000 was raised for a variety of charities, including the Harkness House shelter for homeless vets, and Connecticut Veterans Legal Charities.

Paul Jackson, a spokesman for the company, said this is a great cause and provides a fun family time for people.

While this game has not yet sold out, Jackson was already predicting the company would double the amount raised by last year’s event.

There will be fireworks after the game and various dignitaries will be on hand, including several politicians locked in key races this year.

For more information on the event and game, visit www.bridgeportbluefish.com.

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