The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading recently announced that it’s naming Enfield KITE as a 2021 Bright Spot community for its responses to the COVID crisis last year! Congratulations!! The CGLR is highlighting communities that developed exemplary or innovative responses to the COVID crisis, in particular, the Campaign is recognizing communities for crafting solutions that seem especially effective. Read on to find out why Enfield KITE has been recognized for their solution to food scarcity in their community, and how they took action to improve it.

On May 1, 2020, KITE launched the ONE Community Campaign to inspire kindness and raise money for
the Enfield Food Shelf and Enfield Loaves & Fishes. As a collaborative, KITE combines community
resources related to children and families and it was through these partnerships that KITE identified
food insecurity as the greatest need during Covid-19. With unemployment soaring and food donations
dropping, it was the best way KITE could serve children and families in Enfield.

The One Community Campaign kicked off with a $2000 match, made possible by a grant earmarked for
programming from Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. In 36 hours of the campaign launch, KITE
exceeded their initial goal. The immediate success of the campaign led to a $10,000 donation from
Eppendorf, and $3100 from the Enfield Rotary Club raising the campaign total match to $15,100.
For each $10 lawn sign purchased, residents were encouraged to Pay It Forward by posting photos to
social media with the hashtag #EnfieldWillGetThroughThisTogether. Over the course of 4 weeks, the
KITE staff and a handful of volunteers, distributed over 700 lawn signs throughout Enfield and served as
a symbol of the community coming together to help neighbors impacted by COVID 19. In total, KITE
raised $35,100 for food insecurity in Enfield.

Christine Gomeau, KITE Coordinator, said when learning of this recognition, “We are so grateful to the Campaign for Grade Level Reading and the Connecticut Afterschool Network for this recognition. When we realized the need in our community and implemented the One Community Campaign, we were overwhelmed by the number of people who came together to help those who were struggling. The kindness and generosity shown through this campaign has been a bright light in a time of fear and uncertainty. We are proud to receive this recognition and share it with the many people and organizations in Enfield who made the One Community Campaign a success.”

Congratulations again to all those who worked within Enfield KITE and those in the larger community who helped this huge effort come to fruition! To see a full list of Bright Spot communities visit the CGLR website.