Thanks for Charlotte’s generosity in donations
This wonderful community continues to work together to support all who live in and love this town.
This wonderful community continues to work together to support all who live in and love this town.
What does the Food Shelf have in common with Australian magpies?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food to maintain an active, healthy life.
The Food Industry Association has noted that weather related crop losses, global logistics, lack of domestic raw sugar cane supply, a 70 percent increase in soybean oil costs, shipping box shortages and workforce challenges are all contributing to supply chain problems and higher food prices.
People matter! The Vermont Foodbank is a member of Feeding America, which developed out of the idea of one man: John van Hengel.
The Food Shelf continues to take precautions to help everyone keep safe. Anyone who has a fever or cough—or symptoms that might seem like a cold—should not come to the distributions.
We are grateful to live in a community committed to reaching out a helping hand to our neighbors. Ours is a community that steps up with basic monetary support and, from ears of corn to ceramic bowls to winter coats, finds constructive and creative ways to offer help.
VERY IMPORTANT: Note the new time. Starting Dec. 2, the Food Shelf will be open every Wednesday from 4–6 p.m. This new time will allow for some daylight.
Although Thanksgiving and December holidays are on the horizon, we do want to note that our dedicated volunteers added Halloween festivity to the late October distribution —with a clown, a cowgirl and a boat captain working curbside and a backdrop of orange and black decorations, cobwebs, a pumpkin, and spooky eyes lighting up the entrance.
Throughout the year, the Food Shelf rejoices in the ongoing stories of our community reaching out many helping hands. Many contributions are anonymous and go unrecognized but certainly not unappreciated. This month we celebrate our library and its great dilly pickle event.
Home gardens are flourishing, and Food Shelf volunteer prima Karen Doris reports that the abundance of fresh vegetables made a recent Wednesday evening Food Shelf distribution look like a farmers market.
Rick Bragg’s The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma’s Southern Table is a wonderfully poignant, funny and rollicking food memoir, as well as a loving tribute to his mother.
The Charlotte Food Shelf is an all volunteer organization supported by the Charlotte Congregational Church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church and the Charlotte Community. A big thank you to the helpers who make it happen. Their titles do not indicate the multitude of things these people do:
One of the most widespread of wild plants, all parts of the dandelion are edible: root, leaves and flowers. The leaves are an excellent source of vitamin C and all parts are rich in vitamin A and iron. Alice Waters recommends a salad of dandelion leaves, shallots, fennel, small red radishes and lemon zest.
The name “pansy” is derived from the French word pensée, “thought,” and so we see Ophelia distributing flowers while saying, “There’s pansies, that’s for thoughts.” We would say “good, generous thoughts” to the Horsford Gardens and Nursery for their gifts.
In our current time “when much is broken, uncertain, and anxious,” Rev. Kevin Goldenbogen, Charlotte Congregational Church, UCC, wrote, “may you be encouraged by what you are doing, and what we are doing together as one creative and resilient community.”
In this time of great stress, great need, great sacrifice, we are happy to offer one more report of great community, echoing Kimmerer, Merton and an old Sioux proverb that reminds us that “With all things and in all things, we are relatives.”
Please know that the Food Shelf is taking precautions to help everyone keep safe. Anyone who has a fever or cough—symptoms that might seem like a cold–should not come to the Wednesday or Thursday distributions. Also, don’t come if you’ve been in contact with anyone who has these symptoms. Instead, call and leave your name and number. You will receive a call back to arrange for food to be delivered. This procedure will help keep families and volunteers safe. Call:425-3252
In these cold, wintry months, the Food Shelf has felt the strong touch of many warm, friendly hands. We are happy to report that December ended and January began with many generous gifts. And so we start off the harsh cold of the New Year with a warm, loud shout of “Thank you!” to the friendly hands and hearts of our community.
Thank you to the Flying Pig for their Snowflake books that they generously donate one book for each of the kids in our food shelf families and to WowToyz in Vergennes who generously donate toys for every child.