A local family active in agriculture and 4-H programs announced a new fund in their mother’s name to purchase surplus dairy products and produce to be distributed to local food pantries.

The Hyde family has established the Joyce Ann Hyde Food for Families Fund, created upon three pillars that support the fund’s mission: support local agriculture, follow the 4-H principal of “creating a giver’s heart” and support food pantries.

Money raised by the fund will be used to purchase milk, cheese and other dairy products through local processors and will work with Connecticut farmers to purchase surplus produce at full market price, brothers Brandon and Harlan Hyde said in a news release announcing the fund.

The fund will donate food to food pantries and soup kitchens in the New London County area. Any surplus would be donated to local food banks. The premise is to allow soup kitchens and pantries to focus their money on purchasing other needed items.

The fund will work with 4-H to foster that program’s goal of youth volunteerism and to educate youth on the “critical nature of food insecurity by getting them involved in the delivering farm fresh products to those in need,” the release states.

To donate please make check payable to: New London County Agricultural Extension Council Inc. with a memo that the money is for the “Joyce Ann Hyde Food for Families Fund (JAHFFFF).

Send checks to: Joyce Ann Hyde Food for Families Fund (JAHFFFF), c/o Harlan Hyde Jr., 447 Pendleton Hill Road, North Stonington, CT 06359.

For information, contact Harlan Hyde Jr. at (860) 861-5501 or email at harlanhyde20@gmail.com.