Our club's Little Free Pantry in Hinesburg has taken off, addressing and exposing the issue of food security in our community. Installed at the Hinesburg Community Church in 2018, the pandemic has led to a large increase in use of the pantry. Anyone can access the pantry at any time to take or donate non-perishable food items, and recently the pantry has been seeing a complete turnover of contents daily, sometimes even more frequently.
We could not have done this without support from the community, so thanks to:
- https://vermontdiscountstore.com/ for food donations and providing us with a discount on food purchased with donations from club members
- Aubuchon Hardware in Hinesburg for help with rebuilding the doors of our pantry
- Giroux Body Shop in Hinesburg for providing metal plates for the door latches- nicely fabricated and finished with only 15 minutes' notice.
- All of the community members who have dropped off food items at the Pantry
- The Hinesburg Community church for hosting and promoting the pantry and helping to keep it full
- Steve Hartmann from Affiliated Associates for organizing a food drive
We've helped coordinate, advise, and inspire the installation of additional pantries, including one that opened today, June 5, at the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe, a pantry located inside Champlain Valley Union High School, five recently opened pantries in Burlington neighborhoods. Our goal is to spread the word and get a free pantry opened in all 14 Vermont Counties.
Our work on food security also involves support for Feeding Chittenden, and their broad efforts to make sure our entire community has access to food and to address the underlying causes of food insecurity.
See more about the pantry in this video created by club member Andy Duback: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BurlingtonSunriseRotary/permalink/10157203474393947/