Fun and Fundraising for the Food Bank: Hamden Chamber’s After Hours

by Vicki Gemmell ◊ Jul 06, 2012

The rain cleared up on Thursday, June 13, just in time for the Hamden Chamber of Commerce’s Business After Hours event. The After Hours – which boasted food, fun, and live music – was hosted by Dr. Bryan W. Barry, a member of the Chamber’s Board of Directors. Dr. Barry, a chiropractic physician, has been in town for ten years, where the first thing he did was join the Chamber. “It’s been great,” he says.

“We always like to do this in conjunction with a charity,” said Dr. Barry of the monthly After Hours event. “I hosted a 24-hour facebook competition: however many ‘likes’ we get in 24 hours, we’re going convert those to dollars, so we have $500 going to the Food Bank tonight.” In addition, there was “Fill a Spyder,” which had attendees fill up Dr. Barry’s car with donations of non-perishable food items for the Connecticut Food Bank. “We’re hoping to get between five and eight hundred pounds of food,” Dr. Barry said.

The Connecticut Food Bank, which was founded in 1982, is Connecticut’s largest source of donated food. Since its inception, the Connecticut Food Bank has distributed more than 200 million pounds of food to people and families in need. “Every little bit counts,” said Jennifer Thomas, the Food Bank’s Events & Promotions Coordinator. Jennifer, who was in attendance at the After Hours, explained that a $30 contribution to the Connecticut Food Bank would help provide an entire month’s worth of food for someone in need.

Also in attendance was Miss Connecticut, who was brave enough to get dunked for the cause. “We have Miss Connecticut here and we’re raising money to dunk her; five dollars for three throws,” Dr. Barry explained. “It’s a nice charity event, a good business networking event, and it’s a good time.”

Photo: Dr. Bryan W. Barry, along with Mayor Scott Jackson, presenting the $500 check to Jennifer Thomas of the Connecticut Food Bank.

Photo by: Vicki Gemmell