As so many of you know, this van will really be a game changer for the organization, helping us be more efficient and effective as we seek to address hunger and wasted food in our community.
For the past nine years, CHCV has been using staff and volunteers’ personal vehicles to transport food, over 653,000 pounds of food for our neighbors in need.
CHCV was able to purchase the van without taking out a loan, thanks to almost 100 generous donors in 2021 who chipped in to support the project. You know who you are!
Thank you all so much for making this big step possible!
The new van will make a big difference for CHCV’s daily operations. Because of its capacity, the van will allow us to recover much larger amounts of food when it’s offered and not be limited by how much we can carry at a time. We will also be able to move food when it’s very cold or very warm, because of the climate-controlled space. We will have lots more control and flexibility with this new vehicle.
For the very cheerful van decal design, we once again worked with Montpelier-based designer Dana Dwinell-Yardey. The decal work was done by Granite City Graphics in Barre, who we are excited to partner with for the first time and will also be a sponsor for a week of gleaning later in the year.
We know people will definitely recognize the van when they see it driving around. We hope all of you who helped make it possible will be reminded how important your support is to our work to keep our community fed and strong. If you have not made a contribution recently, we hope you will make a donation today or become a sustaining donor. We really need your help as we prepare for the growing season ahead. Like everyone else, our costs are increasing and the need for the food we recover is sadly increasing, as well. We know everyone is not able to give, but if you are able, we hope you can be generous.
We can’t wait to see what this new van can help us do. The gleaning season will be here before you know it and we look forward to seeing all of you soon.