A Large Donation of Large Squash!

WFSB TV and the New Haven Register covered this unusual and generous donation from Laurel Glen Farm in Shelton. Here, 500 pounds of squash is delivered to DESK in New Haven.

A ballpoint pen on the neck of a squash gives a sense of scale. Many of these squash were more than 20 pounds each!

Just before the end of the year, we received a donation from Laurel Glen Farm in Shelton of long neck butternut squash. Three thousand pounds of it.

The long neck variety is popular with restaurants because of its large size and the amount of product yielded by each squash. Because the squash are so large, they are not practical for individual use. The Connecticut Food Bank reached out to member programs and DESK in New Haven was willing and able to accept 500 pounds of the squash, two of which it processed and prepared for dinner on December 28. DESK was planning to prepare and freeze the rest of the squash for future use.

And we connected with Onofrio’s Ultimate Foods in East Haven, a commercial food processor that deeply discounted the cost of cleaning, peeling, chopping and bagging the remaining squash in more user-friendly sizes for us to distribute to member programs. The squash is bagged and frozen and available for ordering. It’s beautiful product your clients will enjoy!

Click here to read a great article by the the New Haven Register about this unusual donation.

A volunteer at DESK cuts one of the squash to prepare for dinner service on December 28.

Cubed squash ready for cooking!