Volunteer Firefighters Deliver Meals To Greenwich Hospital

GREENWICH, CT — On Monday, the doctors, nurses and staff at Greenwich Hospital received the first of a week's worth of meals from volunteer firefighters in town. The volunteers were joined by Gov. Ned Lamont, First Selectman FredCamillo and State Rep. Stephen Meskers for the Memorial Day delivery.

In a statement, Round Hill Volunteer Fire Company Vice President David Chass said the deliveries are intended to show appreciation for the hospital staff's hard work as they continue to grapple with the coronavirus.

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Chass also said Monday's deliveries were the first of "what is to be a full week of food deliveries to the hospital by the volunteer fire companies in Greenwich."

The program was spurred by an initial food delivery by the Round Hill Volunteer Fire Company to the Hospital in early-April.

Chass said the donation was "well-received" by the hospital, and the members of Round Hill set out to expand the program to include all of the Greenwich volunteer fire companies, including Amogerone Volunteer Fire Company, Banksville Independent Fire Company, Byram Volunteer Fire Department, Cos Cob Volunteer Fire Company, Glenville Volunteer Fire Company, Round Hill Volunteer Fire Company and Sound Beach Volunteer Fire Department.

"To further extend the program to include the entire community, Round Hill's District Chief [Rick Strain] collected funds from each of the volunteer fire companies and placed orders with five delis throughout Greenwich," Chass said in a statement. "The participating delis are Corbo's Catering, Firehouse Deli, Garden Catering, Nick's Deli and Rinaldi's Deli."

The participating delis will deliver meals to the hospital each day between May 25 and June 1, Chass said.

"It was important to us to include all the volunteer fire companies in this program and then also support the five delis throughout town," Strain said in a statement. "We are all in this together."

Chass assisted Strain in coordinating the program.

"Greenwich is extraordinarily fortunate to have more than 100 volunteer firefighters who donate their time and put themselves in harm's way to serve the Greenwich community," Camillo said in a statement. "To see them working together to step up to support the doctors, nurses, and staff of Greenwich Hospital is both impressive and inspiring. We should all be thankful for their collective efforts that make our town the great place that it is."

Leading the program from each of the volunteer companies are District Chiefs Rich Neuman (Amogerone Volunteer Fire Company), Al Farquhar (Banksville Independent Fire Company), Dave Walko (Byram Volunteer Fire Department), Gary Wilson (Cos Cob Volunteer Fire Company), Mike Hoha (Glenville Volunteer Fire Company), Rick Strain (Round Hill Volunteer Fire Company) and Joe Gianfrancesco (Sound Beach Volunteer Fire Department).

"At Greenwich Hospital, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the community during this unprecedented time," Greenwich Hospital CEO Norman Roth said in a statement. "The volunteer firefighters of Greenwich have really helped to support our staff with food and other donations. We extend our deepest gratitude to them and to all involved."