Real Stories, Unscripted: Meet Carole Canzoneri
If you’ve ever wondered how much impact one person can actually have…meet Carole Canzoneri.
For the past 27 years, Carole has quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) been showing up for people across our community—families facing homelessness, seniors living on fixed incomes, single moms, kids in foster care, and anyone navigating life when it gets really hard.
And here’s the thing:
She’s not a nonprofit.
There’s no big organization behind her.
Just a group of volunteers, a whole lot of heart, and a simple mindset:
“We leave here with joy.”
Where It Shows Up
Carole’s work touches multiple organizations throughout Fairfield County and Bridgeport, including:
St. John’s Family Center (weekly meals)
Operation Hope
Boys and Girls Village After School Program
Bridgeport Rescue Mission
Hope Line Pregnancy Center
Every effort is intentional. Meeting people where the need is, when the need is highest.
Because even in a place like Fairfield County (known for its affluence) food insecurity is very real.
At the end of each month, when resources run low, the numbers spike.
A meal planned for 80 people can quickly turn into 150.
And Carole shows up anyway.
How It All Started
It began with a newspaper article.
Twenty-seven years ago, Carole read a piece in the Connecticut Post about foster children at Boys & Girls Village—kids who, heartbreakingly, didn’t even have birthday celebrations.
Carole, who fostered and adopted a child as well, felt it deeply.
With a background in food service (and a little encouragement from her husband), she started “Kakes for Kids.”
The idea is simple.
Every child deserves a birthday cake.
Social workers sent lists. Volunteers stepped in.
And just like that—birthdays became something to celebrate!
From there, it snowballed:
Holiday gifts
Hoodies for kids who had none
Furniture donations
Ice cream trucks, carnivals, Valentine’s bags
All powered by word of mouth and people willing to help.
The Gingerbread Project 🍪
One of Carole’s most beloved initiatives is the
Great Charity Gingerbread Project.
Every year the magic unfolds. 350+ gingerbread houses are handmade with dough made from scratch. Volunteers gather to create each piece of the puzzle, but Carole and her husband assemble every single house, no exceptions (seriously)!
These gingerbread houses are sold every year to raise funds for programs like Kakes for Kids, as well as others around the Holidays. An additional 250+ are donated to all of the agencies they help, which in turn are often gifted to families going through unimaginable circumstances.
Others, like Operation Hope, are able to use these thoughtful gingerbread house donations to raise funds for their own community programs by selling them to the public. Over the past five plus years Carole and her team have helped Operation Hope of Fairfield raise thousands of dollars via this partnership.
So many lives are touched! One young boy’s story has stayed close to Carole’s heart. His name is Tucker.
Tucker was a young boy battling cancer who was the lucky recipient of one of these houses. He is now a thriving survivor. Today, Tucker is the official Gingerbread Ambassador, helping deliver houses to other children facing illness or trauma, turning something small into something deeply meaningful.
The Blessing Bags
Another growing initiative is the Blessing Bags program.
Each month, the team aims to create 209 thoughtfully curated bags—filled with essentials like:
Personal care items
Snacks for families
Comfort items that feel like a gift, not a handout
They’re distributed across multiple organizations to people who need support but deserve dignity. Because that’s the difference with Carole’s work…
It never feels like charity. It feels like care.
Feeding the Community
Through partnerships and pure creativity (think: using ShopRite points to fund meals), Carole and her volunteers now provide monthly meals at St. John’s and are on track to serve approximately 1,000 meals this year, stepping in during the toughest times—especially at month’s endEverything is donated and community-driven.
So, How Can You Help?
Carole and her team rely entirely on donations and volunteers to keep this going all year long.
We’re sharing their Amazon Wish List so you can contribute directly to the supplies needed for:
Blessing Bags
Holiday initiatives
Meals
Summer events like their Boys & Girls Village carnival
You can also donate items locally if that’s easier. Just reach out to Carole to coordinate via her Facebook page!
The Bottom Line…
Carole didn’t set out to build an organization.
She just kept asking one question:
“What’s one thing we can do?”
And then she did it. Again and again and again.
In a world that can feel heavy, complicated, and sometimes disconnected, this is what community looks like. Real people showing up and doing what they can.
And leaving with joy.