Our Annual Rally for Change for local food shelves, CVOEO and HOPE, starts on November 8th! Just round up your total (or feel free to give more!) at the registers between 11/8 and 11/14 and the Co-op will match your donation! What an easy way to do good this holiday season!
Hunger is not just an issue on the other side of the world. One in 5 children and youth in Addison County know hunger. Over 3,500 Addison County residents participate in the 3Squares VT program. There are more than 20 summer meal sites in Addison County. Senior meal sites serve our older citizens several times a week all summer long. This is a reality that our local Food Shelves, CVOEO and HOPE, confront every day. Food insecurity is right at home in Vermont, and no one works on the front lines to combat this in Addison County like our two local food shelves – CVOEO and HOPE. These two organizations spend a lot of their resources trying to get food to hungry Vermonters, but that’s not the whole story. Want to know more? Read on, to hear about them, in their own words:
The largest sector of individuals served by CVOEO is employed. They could be classified as underemployed or working part-time, but they are working. They are begging for more hours, hustling every penny and still not able to cover their bills. Using the food shelf is a necessity for these individuals and families. In the time period of 9/1/17 – 10/1/18 CVOEO’s Food Shelf in Middlebury served 1,896 households with 3,464 individuals in multiple visits: 745 of this number were under the age of 18, 730 were seniors and 1,063 of that number are people with disabilities. Individuals and families come from towns throughout Addison County. Donna Rose is the Food Shelf Coordinator. The Food Shelf is located at 54 Creek Road in Middlebury. CVOEO is a nonprofit corporation formed in 1965 to carry out the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 in the Vermont Counties of Addison, Chittenden, Franklin, and Grand Isle. CVOEO is one of five Community Action Agencies in the state of Vermont. Its mission is to address fundamental issues of economic, social and racial justice and works with people to achieve economic independence. Its vision is to bridge gaps and build futures. To reach CVOEO, call 388-2285 or find out more at cvoeo.org.
Use of the food shelf has risen to an average of 650 people/month. Typically, 33% of people served are children, and 6.5% are elderly. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we are still able to meet the increased needs of food insecure households. Our farmers are amazingly generous, and our local food access program continues to grow, allowing us to provide fresh, healthy, locally grown food to people in need. This has a positive impact on the health of our clients, which, in turn, helps strengthen our community. One client recently told us he’d been able to lose over 60 pounds over a period of 9 months, due to being able to obtain fruits and vegetables at HOPE. Another told us that without our
food shelf she would be unable to provide sufficient healthy food for her small boys. Find out more at hopevt.org.