Springing forward with Charlotte Food Shelf upgrade

The food shelf is happy to announce that Peter Fenn, owner of Fenn and Company, has volunteered to do our food shelf upgrade project. Fenn is a talented builder and contractor who has been operating his business in Charlotte since 1990.

The project will be done in April with all the new equipment and supplies purchased through grant money from the Food Bank and all work completed by volunteers.

We are extremely grateful for his generosity in sharing his time and talents to helping us get this done.

Most people in Charlotte probably know that there is a food shelf in town that helps provide food to residents in need. But if you asked them where it is, who administers it and how it works, you’d probably get a blank stare. I will attempt to provide some insight about how the Charlotte Food Shelf operates behind the scenes with the help of many volunteers.

The Charlotte Food Shelf is an all-volunteer, nonprofit charitable organization with a board of directors that oversees its operation. It operates out of the basement of the Charlotte Congregational Church vestry through the generosity and blessing of the church’s parish council. There are about 40 volunteers that work to buy food and supplies, pick up, deliver, stock all the purchases, distribute food and basic supplies to over 30 families and individuals from Charlotte and North Ferrisburgh and perform many other necessary support functions like writing this article and sending thank-you notes.

Besides food, children’s clothing, backpacks and sneakers are made available. In addition, assistance is provided for other things like utilities and emergency expenses for bills.

The food shelf purchases food and supplies from the Vermont Food Bank, Costco and Hannaford, as well as from local farms. It always welcomes donations of food and money.

Each month the food shelf receives a delivery from the Vermont Foodbank, which provides food shelves across the state with produce. On the Tuesday before a distribution, an order is placed online with Costco, and volunteers pick up and deliver the order to the distribution location where other volunteers unload, sort and shelve the items.

For items unavailable at Costco, volunteer shoppers purchase other supplies at Hannaford. The Wednesday and Saturday distributions are staffed with four to six volunteers who welcome clients, help them shop and carry their wares to their vehicles.

Organization is key to making the operations work smoothly, of course, and there are tasks that are handled by members of the board of directors.

Volunteer recruitment and scheduling is one of these important tasks. Keeping track of the type and quantity of the goods going in and out is also a time-consuming job handled by board members as well as writing grants and fundraising efforts.

The finances are tracked and handled by the treasurer who is assisted by other volunteers. So, running a local food shelf really takes a village. We welcome you to become part of our team.

Call 802-425-2402 or email to get involved.

Our schedule:

• Wednesdays 4-6 p.m. and Saturdays 9-11 a.m. (second and fourth of the
  month, unless otherwise noted)
• Wednesday, April 9
• Saturday, April 12.

The food shelf will be closed the week of April 20 for renovations, and there will be no food distributions on April 23 and April 26.

For applications for grant assistance, forms are available at the food shelf and on the website. Applicants must reside in Charlotte or North Ferrisburgh.

If you would like to donate to the Charlotte Food Shelf, you can use your PayPal account or your credit or debit card. If you prefer to donate via check, you can make checks payable to Charlotte Food Shelf, Inc. and mail to: P.O. Box 83, Charlotte, VT 05445. For more information, call 802-425-2402.

A convenient way to support the food shelf is to sign up for monthly donations through PayPal, which will allow you to spread your donations out over the year.

The Charlotte Food Shelf is a nonprofit tax-exempt organization. Gifts are tax deductible within the guidelines.

To donate you can also click here.