CVU Student's Food Drive a Great Success

CVU student Ella Kenney organized a food drive this past weekend with the help of friends, her parents, and her advisor. Here's the message that was shared with families via newsletters and on Front Porch Forum:

In light of the current situation, a food drive is being set up for families who have been affected by the novel coronavirus. Many families in our community have lost their primary sources of income and families have been increasingly relying on food shelves. Our local food shelves are in desperate need of supplies. If you are fortunate enough to be able to donate, please strongly consider it. All donations from this food drive will go to the local town food shelves. Please spread the word about this food drive with your friends and neighbors. During the following times, a station will be set up where you can drive by and drop off donations (contact free of course). This is a great way/excuse to get out of the house!! The times are organized by town to reduce the amount of driving on your part.

We asked Ella if she would answer a few questions for us and she nicely provided us with these responses.

How did you get the idea to do this?
I got this idea by reading the news. Lately there have been a lot of articles on the food shortages and hunger that many families are going to face in the near future (as well as now). I then started thinking about our own community and how the crisis would affect us. I came up with the idea of a food drive because I realized it could immediately and directly benefit many people.

Who else helped?
I had a few other students help me spread the word through Front Porch Forum and such but it was mainly just me who worked on it! One of my good friends, Heidi Berger, helped me out at the Shelburne Food Drive. Additionally, Jen Selwah (with the Williston Food Shelf), Amy Wardwell (my advisor), and my parents were a great help!!

How much food was collected? 

I'm not sure how to describe how much food was collected, so I'll provide you with some photos! (see below) The Williston Food Shelf took 2 cars full of donations, the Hinesburg Food Shelf took as much as their garage could fit. In terms of monetary donations, the food drives collectively raised $1,277 and in terms of gift cards, $5,000.

The food drive that received the most donations was from Williston-- partly because I did the most advertising in this particular town. I was blown away by their generosity. At the beginning, I thought I'd get a good amount of donations but nothing remotely close to what I received. All 4 communities really came together and you could see the support and willingness to help they had. I received way more donations than whatI had expected at all 4 food drives.

Where did the food collected get distributed? 

The donations went to the Williston Food Shelf, Hinesburg Food Shelf, Shelburne Food Shelf, and the Charlotte Food Shelf. Due to the amount of donations, we've contacted the Winooski Food Shelf and we are reaching out to anyone who might need the donations. The CVU Food Shelf has agreed to take the leftovers after we contact and give away some of the remaining food!

Charlotte

Hinesburg

Shelburne

Williston

Thank you Ella and all who helped and provided donations. Many people will benefit from your contributions.