Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

The Charlotte Food Shelf, Inc. is a nonprofit striving to provide food and other assistance to our neighbors in the communities of Charlotte and North Ferrisburgh.

This letter is being written to give everyone in town an update on the current search for a new location and solicit your assistance and ideas.

As most of you are aware, the Charlotte Food Shelf has been operating out of the basement of the Charlotte Congregational Church for many years. Their generosity in allowing this space to be utilized for this purpose is immeasurable. In addition, the overwhelming financial support of our community and the dedicated volunteers has supported this effort and made it possible.

For the last year and a half the Charlotte Food Shelf has been looking for a different location. The Congregational Church needs their space for their purposes and the food shelf needs more space. In addition, the current space is not handicapped accessible and is difficult for families and volunteers to navigate.

The space needed is about 600 square feet that is handicapped accessible, has the ability to have heat, electricity and plumbing installed (if it does not already exist in the structure) and have space for parking and receiving large food orders. It could be part of a barn or garage that is capable of upgrades to meet the above needs. The space could also be a shared space, as other than storage of food the time the food shelf needs to use the actual space, is only several hours a week.

Our communication and outreach to date has not yet resulted in finding a new space so fresh thoughts and perspectives are being sought. Your suggestions and creative solutions are welcome.

The board is still confident that something will work out because of the wonderful people who live here.
Please email me with your thoughts and ideas.

Peggy Sharpe
Charlotte
(Peggy Sharpe is the secretary for the Charlotte Food Shelf.)