Plates With Purpose

It's Time to PARTY!

Please join us for food, fun, and festivities at the Seventh Annual Plates with Purpose Event on October 16, 2026 at Serafresca at the IC in Stamford, CT. Enjoy specialty cocktails, and a not-to-be-missed silent auction, while dancing the night away.

Filling in the Blanks is a non-profit organization that fills the weekend meal gap for children who qualify for the free or reduced school meal programs. By providing a bag filled with healthy food for the weekend, children experience increased academic achievement and a greater increase of success. 

Our mission at FITB 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 10,000 children weekly across Fairfield, Westchester and Putnam Counties. Additionally, we've recently expanded The Fresh Food on the Move Mobile Pantry to Danbury, which has already distributed over 1 million pounds of food to local families in need, primarily in Bridgeport, 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 in sustaining our programs.

The evening will help raise funds to support Filling in the Blanks' mission to fight childhood hunger in local communities. We are excited to see everyone at Plates with Purpose 2026! 

Plates with Purpose Gala 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Philanthropist of the Year Honorees

Bruce and Linda Koe

Bruce and Linda Koe enjoyed their careers as a printing and publishing executive and a financial services sales and marketing manager. But after retirement these Midwesterners decided to put their roots down in Stamford and they vowed to give back to their colleges, their church, their community and those in need.

Jointly, they sponsor scholarships for women in engineering at their alma maters.

Individually, 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.

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.

"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

EVENT DETAILS

October 9, 2026

Silent Auction goes live 

October 16, 2026

Plates with Purpose Gala 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm