Darien’s Four Forks eatery prepares nearly 3,000 meal donations during pandemic

It started with one family — the Sarvers. The end result was nearly 3,000 meals being donated to emergency workers, hospital staff, police officers, nursing homes and shelters. As Four Forks owner Megan Ruppenstein’s donation program came to a close in early June, she reflected on how one family’s idea became a months-long project. “Our first dropoff at Stamford Hospital really demonstrated the gravity of the situation. The drive on I-95 was on a basically deserted highway in the middle of the day. We pulled up to this massive hospital complex and it felt like a ghost town,” she said. Related: Editorial: During this pandemic, there can never be too many helping hands During the drop-off, Ruppenstein said her team quickly learned the impact COVID-19 had on Stamford Hospital “was much deeper than we realized.” “The number of staff, 100 to 200, who were truly on the front lines showed us this was much deeper than we knew and would go on for much longer than we could expect,” Ruppenstein said. Four Forks used its weekly email distribution to spread the word of the actual need for lunches and dinners at Stamford Hospital. “The first Instagram post at Stamford Hospital was also tremendously effective in spurring people to act. The mobilization of Darien, Rowayton, New Canaan and Westport streets, neighborhoods, families and friends was truly amazing,” she said. Throughout the pandemic, many Darien eateries took to creative ways to stay in business. Corbin Cares, started by David Genovese, partnered with Baywater, the Darien Foundation and the Lions Club to prepare meals for front-line workers, seniors and those in need. Four Forks was also part of that project. Related: Corbin Cares extends program to July However, separately, various neighborhoods also worked with Ruppenstein to donate meals, totaling 2,890 as of early June. At the end of March alone, neighborhoods had already donated hundreds of meals. Related: Darien neighborhoods donate hundreds of Four Forks meals to Stamford Hospital In April, Ruppenstein’s hard work continued. The neighborhood group of Friends of Overbook/Rabbit/Brookside organized a fundraiser in order to send meals to Stamford Hospital workers. “We ended up delivering 100 meals from Four Forks tonight (it was important to us to support a local business at the same time) and we also donated $200 towards the hospital’s PPE fund,” said Darien resident Holly Mitchell at the time. Following that delivery, Ruppenstein got a surprise call from a local fuel company. “We have done many many of the deliveries like the one Holly did and a nurse at the hospital is a relative of the owners of Rowayton Fuel. The owners called me to thank me for the food and were so lovely and offered me fuel — a great pay it forward!” Ruppenstein said in April. “She said, ‘You have made our sister happy and we want to make your life a little easier.’ It was so nice. I cried,” Ruppenstein said. Ruppenstein added that everyone has been so great throughout this experience. “I feel so lucky to be in business and helping and making people happy,” she said. Related: Paying it forward comes full circle for one Darien eatery Recently, Ruppenstein contacted The Darien Times because she said she “would love to do something to list all the families and neighborhoods that made this possible. And show appreciation since they all wanted Four Forks to stay alive and busy in this hard time.” “In our business, we have seen many times the grace of so many within our community when someone is sick, in need or celebrating a birth. We know the families going through cancer and the ones who have lost parents. Food is always the perfect gift, so in some ways we were not surprised at the scale of which people gave,” Ruppenstein said. “Ingrid and Michael Sarver of Nolen Lane started this and with just one post, it became something many of our customers wanted to be a part of. They did it to help the workers and support a local business,” she said. “We gave all the meals at a discounted rate and make each meal special with a side and a sweet. We received calls and thank-you notes from the hospitals and the workers who enjoyed the food,” she said. About Four Forks Four Forks opened in 2016 and is named after the forks that feed Ruppenstein’s four boys. It has evolved into a full service catering and event company. It also continues to focus on providing wholesome, healthy “home cooked” meals to busy families who find themselves eating take out or scrambling to prepare dinner too often than they would like. Ruppenstein lives in Darien with her husband Chris and their four boys. More info: FourForks.net The meal donors The Ahl Family and Friends The Angelbeck Family The Benson Family and the Families of Noroton Bay Jane Bieles The Burke Family and Friends Charlie and Penny Carroll Corbin Cares The Cavoli Family The de Castro Family and Families of Fox Hill Lane The Eising Family and the Stephen Mather Neighbors The Erdlen Family and Friends Susan Graham and Hackers for Hope The Hannigan and Casey Families The Harder Family and Friends The Hellman Family and Families of Hillcrest Avenue The Herling Family and Rings End Hardware The Kirby Family and the Familes of Oakshade Road The Kroenlein Family The Leclerc Family Felice Marcy of CST50 and Byrne Pozzi The Maher Family Sara McCarthy and Friends The Mitchell Family and the Families of Overbrook Lane The Morici Family and the Tokeneke School PTO Michael Mostofi and the Families of Huckleberry Lane The Peters Family and Families of Sunswyck Caroline Rosen and Friends The Sarver Family and the Nolen Lane Families The Seth Family The Sullivan Family and the Families of Red Mill Lane and Old Kings Highway The Wellinbgton Family and the Families of the Bump-a-Long Neighborhood The Whidden/Eades Family The Wilson Family, The Benedict Family, The Swindell Family and the Sommerville Family Jayne Tighe Jepsen and the Delafield Island Social Group The Von Stade and Kane Families and Friends

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