Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Norfolk’s food pantry at Battell Chapel reaches far and wide

Norfolk’s food pantry at Battell Chapel reaches far and wide
The front shelves at the Norfolk Food Pantry display a variety of nonperishable food items next to a list of fresh foods contained in the pantry’s refrigerator. 
Photo by Emily Edelman

NORFOLK — Well-known for housing five stained-glass windows designed by none other than Louis Comfort Tiffany, the Battell Chapel in Norfolk is also home to the Norfolk Food Pantry.

Volunteer Director Lynn Deasy said though the pantry has been in existence for decades, “it’s really taken shape in the past 15 years.”

A grant from the Draper Foundation Fund received about a year and a half ago allowed the pantry to purchase a new refrigerator, freezer and shelving over the summer. The Battell Chapel also features a commercial kitchen in which volunteers prepare meals to be handed out.

The pantry does not collect identifying information from its customers — “We don’t turn anyone away,” said Deasy — but many travel from Winsted and Torrington, and also over the nearby Massachusetts border to visit the pantry.

“I think they like that they can choose what to take,” said Deasy, referring to the layout of the Norfolk pantry’s offerings on open shelving rather than the pre-packed distribution in boxes or bags utilized by many pantries.

Donations come in mostly via local businesses and individuals, and range from seasonal produce from local farms and fresh eggs raised by town residents to nonperishable food and personal care items purchased from grocery stores. The pantry regularly stocks items for those adhering to gluten-free, low-sugar, and low-salt diets. Foods for special diets are most needed by the pantry, as are canned meats and soups.

Deasy said from July 2020 through June 2021, the pantry served an average of 33 people per five-week period, who were feeding 97 family members. From July 2021 through September 2022, however, an average of 56 people per five-week period visited the pantry to feed 180 family members (that last number is an average, as well: Deasy said there were weeks when the pantry fed up to 240 people).

Though located at the Norfolk United Church of Christ, the food pantry is one of the many programs run by Norfolk NET, a grassroots organization founded in 2017 with the purpose of being “a safety net of Norfolk resources.”

Norfolk NET connects “people who have the resources with people who need the resources,” said volunteer Kelly Hughes. Primarily a source for those in financial need, Norfolk NET also maintains a gifting board at the Norfolk Hub, a community center. People list services and items they have to offer; and a “Happy to Chat” table, also at the Hub, at which people can sit if they are interested in friendly conversation with passers-by.

There are a number of other resources in town aimed at easing the current burden of living. The room adjacent to the food pantry in the Battell Chapel holds the Clothes Closet, which operates during the same hours as the pantry and offers a large variety of previously worn clothing items, shoes and accessories for adults and children. All items are free and seasonally appropriate. Contributions of perishable items are accepted at the pantry itself during its hours of operation: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

The United Church of Christ will host the benefit dance event “Foot Stompin’ for the Food Pantry” on Saturday, Nov. 12, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Latest News

Plans to revitalize Norfolk’s Infinity Hall unveiled

Infinity Hall, built in 1883.

Jennifer Almquist

Nearly 200 people packed the wooden seats of Norfolk’s historic Infinity Hall on Thursday, May 14, as David Rosenfeld, owner and founder of Goodworks Entertainment Group, a live entertainment and venue management company, unveiled ambitious plans to restore the restaurant and bar, expand programming and reestablish the venue as a central gathering place for the community.

Since the Norfolk Pub closed on Jan. 31, 2026, the need for a restaurant and evening gathering place has become paramount, and for years residents have wanted Infinity Hall to be more engaged with the community.

Keep ReadingShow less

May Castleberry’s next chapter

May Castleberry’s next chapter

May Castleberry at home in Lakeville.

Natalia Zukerman
Castleberry’s idea of happiness is “looking at a great painting.”

May Castleberry is a ball of sunshine and passion, though she grew up an introverted child, moving with her family from Alberta to Colorado to Texas, finding comfort in mountains, books and wide-open skies. Today, the former art book editor and museum curator has found a new home in Lakeville, where the natural beauty of the Northwest Corner continues to captivate her. Whether walking with friends, painting, reading or visiting beloved local libraries in Salisbury, Norfolk and Cornwall, Castleberry has embraced the region since making her move permanent in 2022, bringing with her a remarkable career shaped by a lifelong love of books and art.

Castleberry grew up in the world of books, and especially art books, and she credits her artist mother, an avid art book collector, with igniting her passions. Castleberry’s high school art teacher in Dallas understood how to teach students to channel their imaginations into books and art.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hoarding 
With Style: Sarah Blodgett’s art of collecting

Sarah Blodgett has turned her passion for collecting into “something larger.”

Photo by Sarah Blodgett

There is something wonderfully disarming about walking into a space where nothing feels overly polished, overly planned or pulled from a catalog — a place where history lingers in the corners, where color is fearless, where the objects on the shelves have stories to tell and where, if you are lucky, a cat named Cinnamon may be supervising the entire operation.

That is the world of Sarah Blodgett.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Dr. Paul J. Fasano

Dr. Paul J. Fasano

SHARON — Dr. Paul J. Fasano DDS, of Brewster, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully after a long illness on May 10, 2026, in Boston.

Born in Boston to Philip and Laura (Stolarsky) Fasano on Dec. 13, 1946, he grew up in Dorchester with his two brothers Philip and William.Paul attended the Boston Latin School and graduated from Boston College in 1968.He later completed Dental School at New York University in 1972.

Keep ReadingShow less

David Niles Parker

David Niles Parker

KENT — David Niles Parker, 88, of Middletown, Connecticut, passed away at home on May 6, 2026.

Born January 20, 1938, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, the first child to Franklin and Katharine Niles Parker, David graduated from Wellesley High School, received his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University, studied at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and earned his master’s in education from Harvard.

Keep ReadingShow less
Janet Andre Block is ‘Catching Light’

Artist Janet Andre Block in her studio in Salisbury.

L. Tomaino

What do Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s piano concertos and a quiet room have to do with Janet Andre Block’s work? They are among the many elements that shape how she paints, helping guide her into the layered, luminous worlds she creates on canvas.

Block makes layered oil paintings in rich, deep, misty colors. She developed her technique as an undergraduate at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and then at New York University, and also time spent in Venice earning a master’s degree in studio art.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.