Irene Spoils Spooner House's Community Open House

With Hurricane Irene poised to put a major damper on weekend plans, the Community Open House to honor the Valley’s first responders, that was scheduled to take place Sunday at the Spooner House, has been cancelled.

It was not immediately known when the event would be rescheduled, but it‘s highly likely that many of those first responders will be out in force, instead, helping Valley residents weather the storm, scheduled to hit Connecticut early Sunday.

According to Susan Agamy, executive director of the Spooner House, the 4th annual Community Open House was slated to honor police officers, firefighters and ambulance personnel hailing from Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton. Agamy said that emergency personnel have helped the clients of the homeless shelter over the years in countless ways, and the open house was a way to pay homage to their work and dedication to the job.

“The emergency service personnel in the area are very important to our residents and counselors,” Agamy had said.

When the event does get rescheduled, those who plan to attend are encouraged to bring a donation of cleaning or paper supplies, in order to help keep the shelter, along with Area Congregations Together (ACT) food bank’s shelves stocked. Some of the suggested supplies needed are laundry detergent, fabric softener sheets, bleach, floor cleaner, all-purpose cleansers (non-abrasive), stainless steel cleanser, dish soap, toilet bowl cleaner, glass cleaner, liquid hand soap, Lysol spray, Lysol cleaning wipes, rubber gloves (all sizes), sponges, paper towels, toilet paper, tissues, napkins, plastic wrap, aluminum foil and Ziploc bags (all sizes).

The Spooner House, at 30 Todd Rd., is the Valley’s only area homeless shelter, and is run by ACT. The facility serves approximately 250 men, women and children each year, providing them shelter, food and various support services.

Last year, ACT’s food bank program provided 125,000 meals to 2,700 people in the Valley, 900 of them being children. Agamy said ACT is on track this year to “hit 140,000 meals by the end of year, representing a 44 percent increase in need.” Officials said the rising need for help can be attributed to the poor economy, because going back to 2006, before the economy tanked, ACT provided just 61,000 meals to Valley residents. The mission of the Spooner House, according to officials, is to help clients “establish self-sufficiency in an atmosphere of respect and dignity.”

For information call 203-225-0453 or visit www.act-spooner.org .