Thru the Lens: 396 families enjoy Thanksgiving dinner courtesy of KBE Building Corp.

Farmington, CT KBE Building Corp. has provided 396 turkey dinners for families in CT and MD as part of its 11^th annual Gift of Gobble event. KBE employees and their families joined together to assemble and distribute the boxes on November 23 and 25 to organizations throughout CT and MD. Over the last 11 years, KBE has provided Thanksgiving meals for more than 2,200 families.

The meal boxes contained all of the ingredients of a classic Thanksgiving dinner: Turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, corn, beans, potatoes, yams, rolls, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and a roasting pan. The meal kits were then donated to the following organizations:

• Amazing Grace Food Pantry – Middletown, CT;

• Ashford Food Bank – Ashford, CT;

• Bloomfield Social and Youth Services – Bloomfield, CT;

• Catholic Charities of Hartford – Hartford, CT;

• Columbus House – Middletown, New Haven, and Wallingford, CT;

• Farmington Community Services – Farmington, CT;

• New Britain Community Services – New Britain, CT;

• Southington Community Services – Southington, CT;

• Victory Gardens – Newington, CT;

• Waterbury Youth Services – Waterbury, CT;

• Wallingford Master’s Manna – Wallingford, CT;

• Sarah’s House Catholic Charities – Fort Meade, MD; and

• Bridges to Housing Stability of Howard County – Columbia, MD.

For the event in Conn., KBE purchased all food items from Bozzuto’s, Inc. and received donated boxes from W.B. Mason. In MD, W.B. Mason and Weis Markets were participants in the philanthropic effort.

“It warms my heart that, after 11 years of doing the Gift of Gobble, it remains our most popular event among our employees and their families,” said KBE president and CEO Mike Kolakowski. “It’s been especially heartwarming to see our employees’ children come back year after year. They symbolize our future and seeing them in action shows how bright that future will be.”

KBE’s 11th annual “Gift of Gobble” event is possible because of the firm’s corporate philanthropic program, 50 Ways to Make a Difference.

Established in 2009 to celebrate the firm’s new ownership, name change, and 50 years in business, 50 Ways has helped KBE associates donate $3.1 million and more than 13,000 volunteer hours to charitable causes benefiting children, seniors, and military veterans in CT and MD.