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Schools

Cherry Brook, Flatbread Raise Funds for Hands on Hartford

Many families come out for event

Families and friends of Cherry Brook Primary School packed Flatbread Company Wednesday night and helped raise nearly $800 for Hands on Hartford, a non-profit organization that runs a homeless shelter, a soup kitchen and two food pantries.

“Five percent of the student population from Cherry Brook comes from Hartford,” Principal Andy Robbin said. “So it’s great we were able to support that community.”

Robbin said the school often participates in projects that give back locally so it was a good time to give back to Hartford.

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Robbin made his brief comments from the stage at Flatbread where he and Patrick Allen, known as the Substitutes, provided live entertainment with piano, keyboard and vocals.

The restaurant typically hosts Tuesday night fundraisers but added a special night for the event, which was coordinated with Cherry Brook and the Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford.

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The restaurant donated $3.50 from every large flatbread and $1.75 from each small. That added up to $595, manager Erich Kronschnabel said.  In addition, it decided to add $150 since the Substitutes provided the entertainment draw, he added.

“That money will go a long way with (Hands on Hartford),” Kronschnabel said. “It’s really, really cool.”

The school will add more to that figure, since it has also been collecting money for the project. So far $1,500 (including the Flatbread event) has been raised. 

“We wanted to do a service project with the students,” said Jessica Papp, extended day kindergarten teacher at Cherry Brook said. She teaches an additional afternoon session for some morning kindergarten students and half are from Hartford.

The class also talked about the issue and made a video about hunger.

At the event, one of her students, Sydney Marsh, 6, said, “It’s about hunger. Mrs. Papp – she told me about it.”

Amy Brown learned about the effort through e-mails and fliers. She does not have a kindergarten student this year but does have children, including first-grader Devin.

“He said he wanted to help people who need food,” she said amidst the chaos of cooks taking hot pizzas from the wood-fired oven, friends hugging, waitresses scrambling to avoid excited children and a little dancing near the stage.

She added, “Look at this community.”

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