Letter to the Editor: Thank you Vermonters

Letter to the Editor 

January 7, 2009 

Dear Vermonters— 

Thank you for making this holiday season brighter for the tens of thousands of hardworking families, children and elderly people who seek emergency food assistance each year.   

During the past year, the Vermont Foodbank saw extreme growth in the numbers of people seeking emergency food assistance. Our network partner food shelves and meal sites around the state reported 25-90% increase in the numbers of people requesting food aid.  Last month, with the threat of financial shortfall, the Foodbank worried that increased requests for charitable food would go unanswered. And because the Foodbank provides nearly two-thirds of the food distributed by our network partners, this shortfall threatened operations at food shelves and meal sites in every corner of our state.  

The charitable food system in Vermont and throughout the nation, relies almost entirely on the support and generosity of individuals, businesses, and private-sector foundations.  Our work complements, not replaces, the Federal Nutrition Programs—school meal programs, food stamps, and WIC.  These programs are the first-line of defense against hunger.  The Foodbank and its network partners are there when a family’s food stamps run out before the end of the month.  We’re there when children cease to get a school lunch during summer months, holidays and unplanned closings.  And we’re there when a senior who is struggling to pay the bills on a fixed income needs a hot meal.  

And because of you and thousands of Vermonters like you, the work of ensuring that no Vermonter goes to bed hungry will continue.  The Foodbank asked for your help and you answered with overwhelming generosity.  From food drives, to donated turkeys, to monetary gifts, you have helped infuse our Vermont community with hope—that in difficult times we will ban together to take care of our neighbors, to make certain that no one is made to choose between heating their home and putting food on the table, to guarantee than no child goes to bed hungry.   

On behalf of the Foodbank staff, our more than 270 network partners, and most importantly the one-in-ten low-income Vermonters we serve – thank you for answering the call!  We look forward to a new year of continued community support as work together to create hunger-free communities across Vermont.  

Sincerely,

Christine Foster and Edward Fox,
Interim Chief Executive Officers and
The entire Vermont Foodbank Staff