With school-based summer food delivery programs for Addison County families ending Friday, Aug. 14, hundreds of families eligible for food support face a three week gap before fall school food programs start up. Please join a local task force of religious congregations and individuals who are organizing to fill this need.
OUR NEEDS –
1) The Food – Packages will typically include purchased fruit (grapes and berries, clementines, not fully-ripe bananas) small orange juice bottles, boxes of fruit leather, small kid-friendly yogurts, small single serving puddings, bacon and breakfast sausage, hotdogs, small packages of ground beef, sealed airtight sealed lunch meats. We also hope to offer “Lunchables”, canned tuna and canned chicken, and kid-friendly snack foods. We will be supplementing this purchased food with fresh produce, like corn on the cob, lettuce, green beans, and other kid-friendly vegetables obtained from Project HOPE and local farmers. We hope to add baked donations as we get rolling.
2) Money – While donations of food will be welcomed, the best support right now would be financial. That allows the organizers to make sure the diverse needs for each package are covered, to plan more efficiently, and to work with local grocers to maximize the value of the dollars we spend. Organizations and individuals can donate by going to the Zen Center website (https://www.breadloafmountainzen.org/giving/ ), clicking on the Donate button and following the directions (you can leave a note that your donation is for the Food for Families program as part of that process). If you prefer, you can mail a personal check made out to the Bread Loaf Mountain Monastery at P.O. Box 818, Middlebury, Vt. 05753 with Food for Families in the Memo line.
3) Workers – We may need help at the three food delivery sites, as well as help packaging it the previous day. Food donations and packaging work will take place at the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society, 2 Duane Court, Middlebury. You can drop off food in the unlocked shed on your right as you enter the CVUUS parking lot. CVUUS volunteers and staff will periodically move it to the kitchen and refrigerate those items that need it. Please attach your contact information to food donations. Do not leave items that are already past their expiration date. Assembly of boxes will be in the Fellowship Hall kitchen at CVUUS. Covid-19 safety precautions will be strictly observed.
Email revbarnaby@cvuus.org if you want information about volunteering.