Hunger Council of Windham County

 Conversations kick off right away at the start of our meeting!

 Carmen Derby & Jeff Morse, Co-Chairs of the Hunger Council of Windham County

Council members hard at work!

In 2006, Hunger Free VT (then the VT Campaign to End Childhood Hunger) launched the hunger council model.  Hunger councils are an innovative way to rally community members around the issue of hunger, educate our neighbors, and take action.  We now have four hunger councils across VT: the Hunger Council of Washington County, the Hunger Council of Chittenden County, the Hunger Council of the Lamoille Valley, and the Hunger Council of Windham County (shown above).  These councils bring together community leaders from all sectors including: nonprofit organizations, local businesses, legislators, Congressional Delegation staff, communities of faith, and philanthropists.

The results of this community activism have been quite remarkable.  Over the years the councils have helped expand eligibility to 3SquaresVT, improved access to the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and grilled our elected officials on their support for anti-hunger initiatives.  Thanks to the dedication of these volunteers, the hunger councils are now seen as a national model for community activism.

The pictures above are from yesterday's meeting of the Hunger Council of Windham County.  We are particularly proud of their recent accomplishment which prevented the closure of 13 summer food sites throughout the county.  Earlier this year, the Brattleboro Housing Authority announced they would no longer be able to serve as the sponsor for the Summer Food Service Program.  Members of the Hunger Council of Windham County banded together to find a new sponsor so that all children would be served this summer.  Thanks to a dynamic collaboration the group was able to create a new sponsorship program with the Windham Regional Career Center (WRCC).  This program will not only provide food for summer programs but will also provide jobs for 6-8 teens this summer.  Employed teens will have the opportunity to learn food preparation and service skills while providing meals to children in an area where more than 50% receive free and reduced price meals during the school year.  Had WRCC and the Hunger Council of Windham County not stepped up there would have been much more hunger and malnutrition among children this summer.

We can do so much to end hunger and malnutrition when we all come together.  It was a pleasure to spend a morning with the Hunger Council of Windham County and I am grateful for their energy and dedication to their communities.  We hope to one day have hunger councils in all of Vermont's 14 counties!

Read more about the work of the Hunger Council of Windham County in the Brattleboro Reformer.