The Seventh Annual Plates with Purpose Event returns to Serafresca at the IC in Stamford on October 16, 2026. The evening honors our commitment to providing solutions to local hunger and celebrates the community of dedicated volunteers and supporters who make it possible. 

Our mission is simple yet profound: to provide weekend meals to children facing food insecurity. Through our weekend meal program and school-based pantries, we currently support 11,000 children weekly across Fairfield, Westchester, and Putnam Counties. Additionally, the Fresh Food on the Move Mobile Pantry has distributed over 2 million pounds of food to families throughout Bridgeport, Danbury, Norwalk, and Stamford. With the demand for our services steadily rising and less than 1% of our food being donated, events like Plates with Purpose are vital to sustaining our programs.

This year, we are delighted to celebrate the years-long commitment of Bruce and Linda Koe, our Philanthropist of the Year Honorees. 

Following successful careers as a printing and publishing executive and a financial services sales and marketing manager, respectively, these Midwesterners decided to put down new roots in Stamford. They have since dedicated themselves to giving back to their community and those in need.

Linda has served on the board of New Covenant Center and the Connecticut Food Bank. She was actively involved in establishing the Stamford Food Collaborative and is engaged in supporting a number of agencies that address food insecurity. At the top of her list is Filling In The Blanks. Bruce was one of the founding directors of Building One Community, where he served on the board for 12 years. He still remains active at B1C and currently serves on the board of Food Rescue US. Jointly, the Koes sponsor scholarships for women in engineering at their respective alma maters.

“Having the opportunity to work with Filling In The Blanks has been so rewarding. One year, we had the opportunity to help distribute holiday backpacks to students at a local grade school. The smiles on the faces of those kids and the excitement they felt cemented our resolve to do whatever we could to help Filling in the Blanks expand. And they have done so at a scale and pace that has blown us away.” – Bruce and Linda Koe

Reserve your seats to celebrate Bruce and Linda, and to follow their lead in supporting our ongoing commitment to Filling in the Blanks for all those in need.