Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf

Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf (CEFS) is dedicated to supplying emergency food to low-income individuals lacking adequate food supply or nourishment in Chittenden County. In total, the four Food Shelf programs distributed approximately 1,783,209 pounds last year [2001] to our hungry neighbors. The Hot Meals Program serves approximately 5,000 hot meals every month to hungry individuals and families. During the summer, the program distributes 40 brown bag lunches daily. The Grocery Distribution Program provides a five-day supply of emergency food once a month to approximately 1,500 households. All households participating in the grocery distribution service are screened for possible USDA food assistance programs and Food Stamp eligibility. The Homebound Grocery Delivery Program was developed in direct response to elderly and disabled client requests for assistance receiving their emergency staples. Groceries are delivered monthly to eligible low-income homebound senior citizens and disabled adults. ^popular Click here to read more.

Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf is pleading for help. Demand for food is up, with at least 100 more families are looking for assistance. But, food donations since October have dropped more than 20-percent compared to the same time last year. "Its very unusual," says food Shelf Director Wanda Hines. "I've been here 6 years, and this is a decline I've never seen, especially this time of year. I think you could speculate the economy, you could speculate September 11th. But here again, our monetary donations have been very level." The Food Shelf is looking for non-perishable items. For more information you can call 658-7939.

Chittenden Country Food Shelf store rooms are down 22 percent. Food donations to the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf are down 22 percent since October, a drop that translates into an 88,000-pound shortfall. "It's too early in the fiscal year to be at 22 percent down -- the holiday giving season is over," said a worried Wanda Hines, the Food Shelf's director. "We don't have another major drive scheduled till the postal drive in May." Hines isn't sure exactly what has caused the decline, though she speculated the faltering economy is contributing. The Food Shelf tracks its donations according to a fiscal year which begins in October. "I think the best thing we can do is talk about it and let people know what's going on," she said, noting that it is unusual for the Food Shelf to put out a call for help at this time of year.

The Chittenden County Food Shelf is located at 228 N. Winooski Ave. in Burlington, and provides groceries to about 1,400 households countywide each month. Staff and volunteers also cook and serve about 150 hot meals daily, make weekly deliveries to 120 homebound clients, and, through schools and other agencies, provide brown-bag lunches and after-school snacks to children in need. Hines estimates that one-third of her clients are children. Half of the Food Shelf's supply comes directly from local businesses and neighborhood food drives. Another 6 percent comes from the Vermont Food Bank, and 3 percent from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hines said. The remainder, about 40 percent, is purchased. Clients visit what looks like a small, no-frills grocery store, offering a mix of brand names and generics. Purchased foods dominate the shelves this week, including margarine, raisins, instant oatmeal, peanut butter, pasta, macaroni and cheese, baby food, coffee, and cans of beef stew, soup, green beans, kidney beans and spaghetti sauce. ... About 800 local businesses donate food to the Food Shelf at least occasionally.

The Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf on Monday began a 10-day Turkey Drive to round up 1,000 turkeys for Thanksgiving to help feed needy families in Chittenden County. The Food Shelf provides food assistance to 1,500 families a month. Last year, the community donated more than 840 turkeys. Donations of turkeys will be accepted 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Food Shelf at 228 N. Winooski Ave. in Burlington. Turkey donations will be accepted until 6 p.m. on the evening before Thanksgiving. For information, 658-7939. -- From staff, wire reports

The Giving Season, in its ninth year, raises money for three local nonprofit agencies: The Committee on Temporary Shelter, the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf, and WARMTH, a heating-assistance program. Last year, newspaper readers and other community members donated more than $37,000 -- a record amount. This year, as local families face mounting economic demands, from job cuts to rising health care costs, support is crucial. The newspaper hopes that through the generosity of its readers, it can exceed last year's sum.

The Food Shelf serves 1,500 Chittenden County families each month "Thirty-four percent of our clients are children," said Wanda Hines, the Food Shelf's director. An average family (statistically, that's 2.8 people) leaves with 75 pounds of food per visit, which would normally cost about $60, Hines said. Flowers, 42, understands the connection between health and nutrition, and she's particularly thankful for the fresh vegetables offered by the Food Shelf. A registered nurse, she moved to Vermont from Yonkers, N.Y., in 1994, looking for a healthy environment in which to raise her three daughters. In 1995, she began to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, which she mistook for stress from working too much overtime at her job at Fletcher Allen Health Care. A neurologist discovered she had brain trauma from a car accident a decade earlier. She continued to work part time in nursing homes, but eventually had to stop working altogether. Today, she receives a modest disability payment each month,