Hunger in the Summer

Yesterday I was a guest on Vermont Public Radio's Vermont Edition with John Sayles from the Vermont Foodbank. During the academic year, 29,000 Vermont children rely on free or reduced priced meals. When the school doors close in June, many children lose their most reliable source of consistent and balanced nutrition. The Campaign works with over 50 organizations, municipalities, and schools to provide healthful meals to over 5,600 Vermont kids at approximately 150 summer food sites statewide to help fill this gap. Check out our interview on VPR!

Spring Hunger Council Meetings

One of the most successful elements of our work with Northfield Savings Bank over the last three years was the creation of Hunger Councils in Washington and Chittenden counties. This month we hosted meetings in both counties to plan out the future work of the councils. Each council identified areas that need discussion, action, and community support. We'll be working with our council co-chairs over the summer to lay out the next year's discussions and plans. Both councils also agreed to participate in "World Cafe" discussions as part of the Campaign's strategic planning process launching June 10th. We are very lucky to have such dedicated, caring, and connected volunteers investing their time and energy in these critical issues.

At the Chittenden Countil Hunger Council meeting, May 19th

Recording ideas for future work with our small group.

Three more years!

We are delighted to announce that Northfield Savings Bank will continue its generous support of the Campaign's work for the next three years! Please check out the video of yesterday's press conference as well as today's Burlington Free Press article and news coverage on WCAX.

Thank you Northfield Savings Bank and the Northfield Savings Bank Foundation for this honor!

Renewing Our Partnership

Today we were thrilled to host our friends from the Vermont Foodbank at the Campaign offices. John Sayles, the new CEO at VFB and I agreed that as new executives renewing and deepening the partnership between our two organizations is essential to ending hunger in Vermont. We started on this path by hosting a "Get to Know the Campaign" presentation at our office for John, Julie-Ann Graves, and Chris Foster. In the coming months I'll head to VFB with Campaign staff to learn more about VFB's core services. In the future we hope to identify more areas where the two organizations can come together towards our common mission. It was a wonderful meeting and I am so excited for the future of our partnership!

(From left to right) Julie-Ann Graves, CFO at VFB, John Sayles, CEO at VFB,

and Marissa Parisi, Executive Director at VTCECH

Sarah Kunz, Nutrition Program & Policy Specialist at VTCECH

(From left to right) Joanne Heidkamp, Program Manager at VTCECH, and

Chris Foster, Chief Development Officer at VFB

First 100 Days

Some of the Campaign staff at the Vermont State House

Hunger Awareness Day

February 12th, 2009

Wednesday marked my 100th day as Executive Director at that the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger. As I’ve become more grounded in the needs of our organization and Vermont communities I’ve begun taking steps to create long-term plans for our organizational growth and development. Going forward we must continually rise to meet the needs of Vermonters so that hunger becomes a distant memory. No small task.

The staff at the Campaign always has our mission in their sights. They spend hours understanding how income changes will affect families’ 3SquaresVT benefits. They help schools with lengthy federal applications for meal programs. They’re on site when schools reapply for summer programs with another lengthy application and different reimbursement formulas. They work with schools on balancing budgets to afford locally-grown fruits and vegetables for snack time. Without our dedicated staff very little of this vital work would happen, and there is always more to do.

Currently 3SquaresVT (formerly known as Food Stamps) has the highest participation rate the state of Vermont has ever seen -70,000+ participants. Children who eat meals in school or in a child care setting get 500+ nutritious meals a year. Our work enhances the well-being of Vermont’s children and their families.

With more than 60,000 families in Vermont still experiencing food insecurity there is a great deal of work ahead of us. I believe the Campaign has the right people at the right time to find sustainable solutions to hunger. I look forward to working with our advocates, donors, partners, and friends to make change!