Vermont Busienss Magazine Hunger Free Vermont is excited to receive a $28,586.12 grant from Shaw’s Foundation from their Hunger Is initiative to eradicate childhood hunger. The funds power Hunger Free Vermont’s work to help schools and communities throughout Vermont feed more kids a nutritious breakfast. They accomplish this by helping schools and communities understand and make the best use of the federal nutrition programs that provide opportunities for low income kids and food insecure families to gain access to healthy breakfasts in schools and summer meals programs. The funding will also help Hunger Free Vermont to develop and grow breakfast programs that incorporate proven best practices, high quality nutrition, and as much fresh, locally produced food as possible.
“We feel so fortunate to have Shaw’s Foundation continue its support of the work we do to ensure that Vermont children have access to eat a healthy breakfast so they feel good, and can make the most of their academic day,” said Anore Horton, Executive Director of Hunger Free Vermont. “We know that Shaw’s Foundation sets a high standard for its Hunger Is grant recipients because the grants go only to organizations that have the greatest impact on fighting childhood hunger. We’re immensely proud to be part of that recipient group and thank Shaw’s and their customers for helping us continue to make a difference in the lives of Vermont children.”
Hunger Free Vermont’s mission is to end the injustice of hunger and malnutrition for all Vermonters. We believe that everyone, at every age, has the right to food to sustain an active and healthy life. For more than 25 years our experienced and passionate staff have developed and deployed carefully integrated strategic initiatives designed to provide low income Vermonters with the most consistent and readily available opportunities to eat the healthy food they require to thrive every day of the year. We accomplish this by helping community organizations, schools, and childcare providers understand and make the most effective use of the federal nutrition programs that feed children through childcare, school, afterschool, and summer meal programs; and families and adults through 3SquaresVT.
Hunger Free Vermont also serves as our state’s primary source of education and advocacy about the critical importance of good nutrition in developing and maintaining a healthy and active life, and the necessity of tackling infrastructure barriers at the local, state, regional, and national level that prevent Vermonters from accessing enough healthy food. Our goal is to ensure that access to nutritious, affordable food is built into the fabric of all communities. We work to accomplish this by bringing together community engagement groups called Hunger Councils to address issues in their own region and by acting as a thought leader and convener across a wide range of local, state, regional, and national agencies and organizations who work together to enable all Vermonters to thrive. We also work with Vermont’s legislature and state agencies to advance initiatives that improve access to programs that help lift Vermonters out of poverty and enhance human dignity.
Hunger Is, a charitable program of Shaw’s Foundation, is designed to build awareness and raise funds in an effort to eradicate childhood hunger in America. Funds raised through Hunger Is focus on adding breakfasts in and out of school through federal nutrition programs and other means to combat childhood hunger and improving other health-related outcomes. Each Shaw’s location selects a local organization or food bank to receive the donations. Funds for our $28,586.12 grant were collected by all 19 Shaw’s stores throughout Vermont.
“Hunger Free Vermont is doing incredible things to ensure that children receive the nutrition that they need to live healthy and happy lives,” said Michelle Larson, President of Shaw’s and Star Market. “We are proud to help support their mission and partner with them in the fight against food insecurity in our local communities.”
About Hunger Free Vermont: Hunger Free Vermont is the statewide nonprofit organization that advocates and educates to bring a permanent end to hunger in Vermont through systemic change, universal strategies, and community collaboration. Since 1993, Hunger Free Vermont’s outreach programs have substantially enhanced Vermont’s nutrition safety net and increased access to nutritious foods in schools, childcare, summer and afterschool meal programs, and federal programs like 3SquaresVT (known nationally as SNAP). Learn more at www.hungerfreevt.org.
About Shaw’s & Star Market
Shaw’s and Star Market are working to become the Favorite Local Supermarket™ in every state in which they operate. Shaw’s is one of the oldest continuously operated supermarkets in the United States with its roots dating to 1860. Star Market, a premier food retailer, has been serving Boston area customers since 1915. Throughout the five New England states, there are 150 Shaw’s and Star Market store locations employing approximately 19,000 employees. We are a division of Albertsons Companies. Locally great and nationally strong, Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States. For more information about Shaw’s and Star Market, please visit www.shaws.com and www.starmarket.com or connect with us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/starmarket or http://www.facebook.com/Shaws.
About Albertsons Companies Foundation
Founded in 2001, Albertsons Companies Foundation, formerly Safeway Foundation, supports causes that impact customers’ lives. Albertsons Companies stores provide the opportunity to mobilize funding and create awareness in our neighborhoods through the generous contributions by our customers, our employees’ passion and partnerships with our vendors. We focus on giving locally in the areas of health and human services, hunger relief, education and helping people with disabilities. Albertsons Companies and Albertsons Companies Foundation have invested $1 billion in our neighborhoods since 2001. For more information about Albertsons Companies Foundation, visit www.albertsonscompaniesfoundation.com.
Source: South Burlington, VT — January 10, 2020 — Hunger Free Vermont