While not exactly a Granby resident, Jonathan Lynch is a familiar face around town, especially if you’re out and about early.
A Barrington, R.I. native, Lynch is a graduate of Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., where he learned that “trying is an act of bravery, learning comes from struggling, and succeeding is going beyond what you thought possible.” Lynch quietly lives by this credo, enriching lives without notice or fanfare.
When Lynch was a senior at Norwich, a friend who was working at Hamilton Standard (now Collins Aerospace) encouraged him to apply for a job there. “I interviewed, I was hired, and a week after graduation I had an apartment in Manchester and was sitting in an office in Windsor Locks,” Lynch recalls. “I am a finance person by education, but the company had me writing proposals for airlines to buy their jet engines.”
Lynch met his wife Gloria through a high school friend who was fishing buddies with her father. “We would all go fishing off Point Judith,” Lynch says. “Gloria’s father introduced us, and we were married in 1980. When Gloria finished her nursing degree, we moved to East Hartland. I had been looking for a place in Granby, but back then I couldn’t afford it here.”
After retiring from nursing, Gloria took a job at the Granby Starbucks when it opened in 2003, quickly becoming a familiar face there. “That was where everyone in the community gathered to share news and relax over coffee,” Lynch says. “I started volunteering to clean up after closing, and that’s when I saw all the day-old goods that were discarded by the armloads every night and decided to do something about it.”
What began as an effort to help feed the needy while eliminating waste evolved into a daily routine that included Geissler’s Supermarket. In the beginning, Lynch would make an early pick-up at Starbucks, deliver the goods to Hands On Hartford and head to work in Windsor Locks. But within a few months, Lynch approached Geissler’s to engage their support for this cause.
“It was hard to find a place that was open early enough for me to pick up and deliver before I had to be at work,” he says. “Gloria shopped at Geissler’s and she knew the people who worked in the bakery. They were taking bread that was approaching its expiration date to a farm for the animals. I asked if they would consider donating it to feed hungry people, and they agreed. If it’s out of date, I get it: bread, rolls, pastries and sometimes vegetables.”
Now retired and a widower, Lynch continues his mission. Every morning at 7:30, he walks into Geissler’s and finds a cart or two waiting for him, filled with the day’s donations. After transferring the food to clean boxes, he heads to Hartford. Three mornings a year, when Geissler’s is closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, Lynch gets to sleep in.
“For the clients’ dignity, you want to deliver early, before they come to the building,” Lynch says. “What I do is a very small thing. My upbringing taught me that if it’s something that needs doing and you are able, then you should do it. If everyone did some little thing to help others, this world would be a better place.”
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