WESTMINSTER, Vt. – Southeastern Vermont Community Action, VT Everyone Eats, and the many partners and participants who make this program possible, are celebrating serving two million meals this week.
The innovative Covid-19 response program provides meal assistance to Vermonters while supporting local restaurants, farmers, and food producers. The program recently received an extension to continue until April 1, 2022, thanks to a contract extension with the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, with SEVCA serving as the program administrator. The program is currently operated by eleven community hubs throughout the state, and includes a statewide online mobile phone app.
Since July 2020, over 260 Vermont restaurants have prepared these two million meals for Vermonters impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, using ingredients purchased from over 300 Vermont farmers and food producers. Those two million meals have generated $20 million in supplemental revenue for local restaurants, $2 million paid to local farmers and food producers, and thousands of new relationships formed between farmers, restaurant workers, grassroots and community leaders, volunteers, meal participants, and lawmakers. “Everyday I receive messages from people around Vermont who have benefitted from VT Everyone Eats. The benefits they describe include help they’ve received in feeding their families, supplemental income that has helped keep their businesses afloat, and feelings of pride and a lift to their spirits as they watch so many Vermonters come together to help one another. I have tremendous gratitude for everyone who has helped achieve this milestone,” said the program’s statewide coordinator, Jean Hamilton.
Celebrate the milestone by participating in the #VTEveryoneEats Two Million Meals Social Media Celebration. Info is available at www.vteveryoneeats.org/2-million-meals.