Allan Appel Photo
Honoree Batson with proud daughter Whitney.
In her work as a pre-school teacher in Hamden, Allison Batson discovered many of the families of her kids were food insecure.
That, along with her faith, led her to found “Dinner for a Dollar,” a communal supper that now feeds about 60 people, including the homeless, isolated seniors looking for social contact, and just plain neighbors, every Friday night 52 weeks a year at the Grace and St. Peter’s Church on Dixwell Avenue in northern Hamden.
Batson has never missed a Dinner for a Dollar night in eight years. In her spare time (!) she volunteers at warming centers in Hamden and helps on the homeless front through service on the board of Columbus House.
Batson, holding sign, with sponsor Avangrid Foundation Director Nicole Grant to her right and United Way’s Jennifer Heath and Ted Norris on left.
No wonder Batson was given United Way of Greater New Haven’s first “Game Changer” award at an upbeat ceremony attended by about 100 people Friday at the group’s headquarters at 370 James St.
In the months to come the recognizing of another 99 Game Changers will be at the heart of United Way’s celebration of its 100th year of service, which has begun, and will culminate on Dec. 22, the day on which the organization was founded back in 1920.
UWGNH President and CEO Jennifer Heath said her organization’s “secret sauce” is in the very name: “taking on things in a united way that no single organization can solve alone.”
Those large societal issues are early childhood health and education and family financial stability. Heath termed those the building blocks of a good life.
United Way’s Jennifer Heath unveiled the new centennial log.
Batson’s work on Dinner for a Dollar is only the tip of the iceberg of a life of tireless service.
“She’s ‘infamous’,” Heath said in circles of people who are attempting to meet unmet needs in Hamden.
Batson said she plans to work in 2020 with United Way to spread the Dinner for a Dollar concept to locations in the southern part of Hamden, perhaps at the Keefe Center and at a church location, yet to be determined.
The “dollar” is a donation if particpants are able to pay, and the concept is that people are guests. Dinners are hot and home-cooked by the church’s parishioners and served on regular dinnerware. There’s conversation and the feeling of people being guests, Batson explained.
United Way staffers stand for a moment of well- deserved recognition.
People come for a variety of reasons. One set of grandparents came into custody of their grandchildren, she explained, and were hard-pressed to make a monthly budget and so came every Friday night for the hearty and inexpensive meal.
Now that they’re back on their feet, they come as participants and supporters.
Batson said she hopes that in the not-too-distant future a hot meal will be available to everyone who needs one in Hamden every night of the week.
Friday night’s menu up at Grace and St. Peter’s: vegetarian chili with rice and cornbread.
To contribute to United Way’s centennial fund, click here..
And to learn more about Dinner for a Dollar and other work at the Grace and St. Peter’s Church, click here.