This Giving Tuesday, you can support public media while providing critical food assistance to neighbors in Vermont.
Thanks to the Vermont Community Foundation and its generous fundholders, each gift made to Vermont Public by November 28, 2023 will result in a donation to Vermont Foodbank, helping to provide 18 meals that Vermont Foodbank can offer to community members facing hunger and food insecurity.
You’re invited to take part in this special opportunity, please do so right now.
Vermont Public is committed to serving our community more deeply than ever before with trusted journalism, quality entertainment, and rich educational programming that is accessible and inclusive to all. It’s why we’re collaborating with Vermont Foodbank on Giving Tuesday for the ninth consecutive year. Together with you, we can do more for our community than we could do on our own.
This summer’s catastrophic flooding around the state created additional challenges for neighbors experiencing hunger and has put additional pressure on the charitable and emergency food network.
But flooding was just the most recent in a cascade of crises that Vermont households have faced. The need for food assistance was also impacted by the end of federal pandemic-era programs supporting neighbors’ nutrition needs, as well as the economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and record inflation in 2022.
In 2022, two in five people in Vermont reported facing food insecurity during the year prior, according to data from the University of Vermont.
To meet the increased need, Vermont Foodbank and its network of more than 300 partner food shelves, meal sites, schools and hospitals, have continued to distribute millions of pounds of food across Vermont and help connect neighbors to other important food access resources, making sure that people have access to the food they need and want.
Please support our nonprofit news, music, education and cultural programming with a donation in any amount: the Vermont Community Foundation and its generous fundholders will match every gift with a donation of 18 meals to the Vermont Foodbank. Your gift now will provide critical assistance to a neighbor who needs a leg up.
If you wish to also donate directly to the Vermont Foodbank, click here. Thank you for being part of our community.
FAQ
What is Giving Tuesday?
Giving Tuesday is a global giving movement celebrated on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It was started in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation as a response to commercialization and consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday harnesses the generosity of people around the world to bring about real change in their communities and kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.
About Vermont Foodbank
The Vermont Foodbank is the state’s largest hunger relief organization, providing nutritious food through a network of more than 300 community partners – food shelves, meal sites, senior centers, after-school programs, schools and hospitals. Food insecurity has increased dramatically as a result of the pandemic and the Vermont Foodbank and its network have been on the front lines, working to ensure that everyone has the food they need to thrive. Learn more at www.vtfoodbank.org.
About the Vermont Community Foundation
The Vermont Community Foundation was established in 1986 as an enduring source of philanthropic support for Vermont communities. A family of more than 900 funds, foundations, and supporting organizations, the Foundation provides the advice, investment vehicles, and back-office expertise to make it easy for the people who care about Vermont to find and fund the causes they love. The Community Foundation and its partners put more than $60 million annually to work in Vermont communities and beyond.
The heart of the Community Foundation’s work is closing the opportunity gap—the divide that leaves too many Vermonters struggling to get ahead, no matter how hard they work. Over the next five years, the organization will prioritize grants and investments that ensure Vermont families can keep their loved ones healthy and safe; provide Vermonters lifelong access to educational opportunities; build community resilience; support physical, mental, and emotional health; and advance equity, strengthen belonging, foster creativity, and promote democracy. Visit vermontcf.org or call 802-388-3355 for more information.
Have you done this kind of partnership before?This is our ninth annual Giving Tuesday collaboration with Vermont Foodbank. Vermont Public has done several other partnerships where gifts also benefited another cause. In 2022, we collaborated with the Children's Literacy Foundation to provide books to local kids. We've also worked with the Shareheat and Warmth programs and Hunger Free Vermont. We give voice to these issues through our programming, of course, but as a statewide institution deeply rooted in the communities we serve, we feel a responsibility to do what we can to improve the quality of life here in our beloved state.
How much money is going to the Foodbank with my donation to Vermont Public?
Our collaboration is being made possible by the Vermont Community Foundation and its generous fundholders. Any gift results in 18 meals for the Vermont Foodbank in addition to your donation to Vermont Public.
What constitutes a “meal”?
The Foodbank uses "meals" to measure its impact, based on the USDA's universal meal size of 1.2 pounds. They could talk about how many pounds your gift will provide, but most people don’t go to the grocery store and think “I need 30 pounds of food to get me through the week.” The Foodbank distributes a wide variety of nutritious foods from all food groups to ensure that the Vermonters who turn to them for help have what they need to prepare the healthy meals they need to thrive.
Why not fundraise directly for the Foodbank on the air?
The FCC prohibits us from fundraising directly on the air for any organization other than ourselves. However, the kind of Giving Tuesday partnership we’re in is allowed and we see it as a way to do a little bit more for our community. In addition to providing meals to Vermonters, the effort is also helping to raise awareness about food insecurity in our community. We are also encouraging our listeners to support other organizations they care about.You can donate directly to the Vermont Foodbank here.
On rare occasions, the FCC has granted Vermont Public a special one-day license to fundraise for another organization. Earlier this year Vermont Public raised more than $800,000 for the Vermont Community Foundation’s flood relief fund following the devastating flooding that hit our state.
Support Vermont Public and the Vermont Foodbank with one gift now. Thank you for helping us build a stronger community!
