Poll workers in Greenwich will have more than ballots and voter rolls on their tables this Election Day—they’ll have fresh meals, hot coffee, and a show of gratitude from dozens of local businesses.
Registrar of Voters Fred DeCaro III has launched an initiative pairing polling locations with neighborhood restaurants to provide lunch and dinner to the 200 men and women staffing the polls. “We’re trying to remind people that poll workers are their friends and neighbors,” DeCaro said. “They’re there as volunteers, putting in a super-long day.”
Every Election Day begins before sunrise for poll workers. They arrive between 5:00 and 5:15 a.m., often before daylight, and stay until at least 9:00 p.m.—sometimes later if hand counts or write-ins are required. The moderators, who oversee the close of polls, return results to Town Hall as late as 10:30 p.m. “It’s at minimum a 19-hour day,” DeCaro explained. “It’s a public service. People come back year after year because they want to help their neighbors.”
Once he received the green light from fellow Registrar of Voters Mary Hegarty, DeCaro reached out to local businesses for help feeding the poll workers, and the response, he said, was “overwhelming.” Every polling location in town now has at least one sponsor, with some taking on two or more.
Participating restaurants include Constantino’s Pizza & Ice Cream, Constantino’s Pasta Bowls, Garden Catering, Little Pub, The Makerie, Corbo’s Deli, and Planet Pizza with Love You A Latte providing early voting treats at Town Hall. “There wasn’t a single place that said no,” DeCaro said. “Several told me, ‘If you need us to cover one more, just say the word.’”
The program has even extended into early voting weekends, where Love You A Latte delivered coffee and baked goods to volunteers. When moderator Carol Dixon learned of the effort, she told DeCaro, “This just keeps getting better and better.”
Restaurant owners said they were eager to participate. “We’re happy to support the poll workers on Election Day,” said Tina Carpenteri of Garden Catering. “They give so much of their time to make sure everything runs smoothly, and donating meals is our way of showing how much we appreciate their commitment to our community.”
Love You A Latte representatives shared a similar sentiment: “We’re honored to be part of such a great initiative! At Love You A Latte, we believe that good coffee and fresh food have a special way of bringing people together, especially on important days like Election Day. Supporting our local poll workers, who dedicate their time to make voting possible, felt like a wonderful way to give back to the community that supports us every day. We’re thrilled to support local Greenwich initiatives, proud to be a part of such a wonderful community, and hope it inspires more local businesses to get involved in spreading a little kindness (and caffeine!) around town.”
Doug Grabe of Little Pub echoed that enthusiasm. “When Fred DeCaro first contacted us about providing lunches for the election workers, we were excited to participate because we thought it was a terrific way to give back to the community that supports us so much,” Grabe said. “It was an easy decision made even easier because Fred didn’t make us decide between North Mianus and Riverside—he let us support both! We’re really looking forward to next Tuesday.”
Samuel Silva of Planet Pizza said, “Greenwich always shows support to its small businesses, so when we can, we like to give back to show appreciation! This program was a great idea…a little appreciation for their hard work in helping this town with one of the most important freedoms we all have in this country, freedom of voting and making our voices heard.”
The initiative also serves a larger civic purpose. “There’s always a lot of heat around elections,” DeCaro said. “But none of that should ever be directed at poll workers. They deserve appreciation.”
Each business sponsor provides two meals per polling place per person—lunch and dinner. “What makes this story so meaningful,” DeCaro added, “is that it’s local people supporting local democracy. These are our small businesses saying thank you to their community.”
As Election Day nears, that partnership—between the volunteers safeguarding the vote and the businesses that fuel them—is a wonderful celebration of civic pride.
