Laura Tillman / CT Mirror

IRIS, and organizations like it, face an existential threat. Stop-work orders from the Trump administration worth $4 million and the suspension of refugees entering the country have upended IRIS’ work.

Chef Jacques Pépin has cooked for French presidents, taught cooking on television with Julia Child and published dozens of books. He’s also called the coastal town of Madison, Connecticut, home for more than four decades.

Food pantries across the state rely on private fundraising to supplement federal and state support. But not all food pantries in Connecticut have well-resourced communities of potential donors to tap.