GREENSBORO – On the second and fourth Wednesdays each month, 250 to more than 300 cars arrive in Cabot, but not for a cheese convention or music festival. They arrive from neighboring towns and all over the Northeast Kingdom (NEK) to pick up food that will help feed families.
A Greensboro Food Share project is being organized to help take the load off the Cabot Food Share site. Families closer to Greensboro than Cabot will soon not have to travel the extra miles to Cabot twice a month for food
In the past year and a half, the Food Share program sponsored by Cabot’s Neighbors in Action (NIA) has experienced a 100% increase in requests for help with food. A year and a half ago Food Share was welcoming 150 to 175 cars at its drive-through pickup line. Now the program serves over 300 cars some days.
The Little Food Shelf (LFS) at the Greensboro United Church of Christ (GUCC) has been struggling to keep up with the increasing need for food, says Patti Sunday-Winters, co-coordinator of the Greensboro site. “As chair of Mission & Outreach, I consulted with Judy Dunnan, who serves on the board of NIA, about my concern with meeting the growing need.”
Dunnan began asking folks who were coming to the Cabot site from the greater area if they would be interested in picking up at a closer location, said Sunday-Winters. Many said yes and the plan began to materialize. Not only would a new site save clients money on gas, it would help reduce the number of cars in the Cabot drive-thru, she said.
“I had no idea how much food insecurity has risen in our area until we took the field trip to Cabot to observe a Food Share. The cars just kept coming” said Mimi Benedict, who is the co-coordinator of the new site.
“It is quite the operation. Over 30 volunteers show up at 6 a.m. to start filling boxes for pickup at 11:30 a.m.,” said Skip Hoblin.
As with their site in Lyndonville, NIA would fill boxes for Greensboro pickup as they are filling their boxes in Cabot.
The GUCC offered to be the host site and the Greensboro Association was in full support, agreeing to recruit volunteers from its membership.
Sunday-Winter, Benedict and three other volunteers: Tom Guare, Skip Holbin.and Alden Launer, form a core group from Greensboro working through the details of coordinating with NIA, recruiting volunteers and providing the training needed to create a welcoming environment for families to take advantage of supplemental food.
The Greensboro program is now gathering volunteers and working through the details of setting up a new program. They hope to start offering food pickups in September and will share information as it becomes available.
Greensboro Food Share is looking for people who can spare 1-2 hours on the second and/or fourth Wednesday of each the month. There will be a second informal gathering for interested volunteers Tuesday, September 3at 5:30 p.m. in the GUCC Fellowship Hall. Hoblin said, “To be clear, volunteers at the Greensboro site will not have to show up at 6 a.m. Our volunteers will start at 11:00 a.m.!”
If you are interested in learning more about volunteering, but unable to attend, please share your interest by emailing greensborfoodshare@gmail.com.
If you are in need of food, please call your closest food pantry, Neighbors In Action in Cabot at 802-563-3322 or the Hardwick Area Food Pantry in Hardwick at 802-472-5940.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
