BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Burlington’s Feeding Chittenden is expanding as a way for the food shelf to reach more people in the Champlain Valley. And that new mission is reflected in a new name.
Feeding Chittenden is becoming Feeding Champlain Valley.
The food assistance program is part of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity and already reaches folks beyond Chittenden County, and CVOEO’s Emmet Moseley says the new name better reflects that. “I mean, I think that the number one thing is resources, having a network of food hubs,” he said.
Moseley runs a food shelf out of Addison County, part of an effort to offer door-to-door food delivery, He says the expansion efforts are welcome to address hunger in the area. “There are probably five to seven thousand food insecure people in Addison County alone. So, I mean, at any given time sort of ten to fifteen percent of the population. So, there is really a lot of room for growth,” he said
The goal is to create more food hub warehouses and more door-to-door services. There are already three locations in Colchester, Middlebury, and Sheldon.
Hunger Free Vermont says 2 in 5 people in the state are experiencing hunger and CVOEO’ Paul Dragon says they are working to reach as many of them as they can. “Vermont is a very rural state. So, we want to get the food out to where people are at rather than have to drive a long way. Some people can’t. There’s also a lot of stigma to food shelves. So, if we can get food out to where people are at, that eases that stigma as well,” he said.
Rob Meehan, who will lead the effort, says they want to make sure that under the new name, they are accommodating all who need food in different ways. “Working right now with a lot of federally qualified health care providers, really looking to innovation. Things like food lockers. People can order online. The food is put in a heated or cooled locker at a place like a clinic. Then, people can go pick that food up at their convenience,” he said.
The organization is working to raise $7.5 million to expand its North Winooski Avenue building in Burlington.