Not Just a Food Shelf: Other Services Provided by the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf

The Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf is more than just a food shelf; they provide a wide array of programs and services to Vermonters in need. If you haven't heard already, our goal is to raise $40,000 for CEFS before January 2, 2015 -- learn more about how we plan to do so on our Share the Love page here, and read more about all of the other programs CEFS has to offer via CEFS below!

"The Food Shelf provides critical nutrition assistance to Vermonters who struggle with food insecurity. This population includes our community’s most vulnerable populations: children, seniors, people with disabilities, New Americans and people who are homeless.

Grocery Distribution Program
o Provides a five-day supply of groceries to approximately 2,600 households each month. This program also provides the households we serve with a supply of fresh produce and bread every day, Monday through Friday.

Hot Meals
o The Food Shelf operates the largest hot meal service in Chittenden County which provides fresh-cooked, buffet-style meals to our guests six days per week. Serves nearly 5,000 meals each month to a population consisting primarily of people who are homeless or marginally housed.

Homebound Grocery Delivery Program
o Food Shelf staff and volunteers deliver a five-day supply of groceries to approximately 130 homebound clients. This program provides seniors and people with disabilities with fresh and perishable groceries and a visit from a friendly volunteer or Food Shelf staff member.

Summertime Brown Bag Lunch Program
o Serves children from low-income families during school vacation. The children served through this program receive free lunch and other school-based food assistance during the school year, but they rely on our Brown Bag Program to bridge the summer nutrition gap.

Community Kitchen Academy
o To fulfill our mission of cultivating opportunities for people living in poverty, the Food Shelf is in its fifth year partnering with the Vermont Foodbank to operate Community Kitchen Academy (CKA). CKA is designed to address two critical needs: providing low-income Vermonters with professional culinary job training and job placement support with the goal of helping them achieve economic self-sufficiency, and providing high-quality, nutritious meals at no cost to food-insecure Vermonters.

The Food Shelf also works hard to serve Chittenden County’s large and growing population of recent immigrants and refugees (or New Americans). The Food Shelf’s Grocery Distribution Coordinator provides translation services to assist our non-English speaking clients in navigating the Food Shelf’s services. This staff member provides outreach and assistance in applying for programs like 3SquaresVT and in providing referrals to other community services, as well. Currently, the Food Shelf’s translator is fluent in five languages including English, French and three African dialects. As part of our broader outreach services, all households receiving assistance from the Food Shelf are screened for eligibility for federal nutrition assistance programs and VT Health Connect. The Food Shelf also provides Commodity Supplemental Food Program grocery boxes to eligible seniors each month.

During the past year, the Food Shelf served more than 11,000 Vermonters through these programs."

All information via CEFS