"We know we are part of a very caring community of neighbors who want to help each other and we think this is one more way to make that happen." - Food Share volunteer
Volunteers at the Lamoille Community Food Share started the Lamoille Neighborhood Food Project (LNFP) in December of 2013. The LNFP is modeled after The Ashland Food Project, a program created in 2009, by a small group of residents in Ashland, Oregon. They wanted to make it easy for their friends and neighbors to provide ongoing food donations to their local food shelf. It has proven to be a great success, with hundreds of participants. We are the first food shelf in Vermont to start our own Neighborhood Food Project.
We have so many wonderful friends and businesses in the community who bring in bags of food, fresh produce and donate money to support us. We never know what kindness will come our way on any given day. Not knowing is part of what keeps us busy looking for new ways to raise awareness, engage the community, and get the food on the shelves. Currently the Food Share purchases 80% of the food needed to serve the many families who receive a 2-3 day supply of supplemental food once each month. Two thirds of our families come in only 2 or 3 times a year. We've been averaging about 400 families each month- about 1200 children and adults. Sourcing and purchasing the quantity of food we need requires a creative, multi-faceted strategy and a lot of hard work by the volunteers who keep the Food Share shelves stocked and doors open 6 mornings a week, 52 weeks a year. We hope you will help us help your neighbors in need. Join now! |
Many thanks go to...
Union Bank, Laraway Youth and Family Services, Pall Spera Company Realtors, H.A.Manosh, St John’s-in-the-Mountains Episcopal Church and Jack and Kitty Morrissey for their financial assistance essential to helping us get the project started. Green Mountain Sports subsidized our t-shirts and Lamoille Solid Waste Management District provided some of our sorting bins. Thank you, Leadership Lamoille class, for their support. Thank you Orah Moore for donating your time and expertise photographing the Reaching Hands photos . This is truly a neighborhood project!