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Projects & Partnerships
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In 2006, the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger (VTCECH), in partnership with Northfield Savings Bank, launched the Community Hunger Assessment, Intervention, & Resources (CHAIR) Project, which coordinates community efforts to build strong nutrition safety nets—one Vermont community at a time. This project is currently being piloted in Washington and Chittenden counties. |
CHAIR is a comprehensive approach to addressing hunger that educates community members about the local causes and effects of hunger and provides tools to improve nutrition and reduce hunger in their communities. CHAIR strengthens existing working relationships and develops new partnerships with organizations serving low-income and food-insecure families. Here are a few of the recent highlights of CHAIR in Washington County:
Hunger Council of Washington County: Convened in November 2006, the Hunger Council brings local leaders together to discuss their community’s nutrition safety net, identify opportunities for improvement, and strategize local solutions. To date, the Council has initiated an ambitious survey project aimed at assessing the quality of meal programs in Washington County’s public schools. The surveys’ results have provided VTCECH with important information about the accessibility of school breakfast programs, the use of local foods, and some of the barriers these schools face in their efforts to increase program participation. Click here for a list of current Hunger Council members.
Community Hunger Forums: In late 2006, VTCECH began developing a new series of CHAIR presentations to provide a forum for local service providers and other community members to talk about hunger and the solutions that can be implemented on a local level. The first of these Hunger Forums took place in Northfield on March 21 st, thanks to the facilitation of Annie Gould, who is a Northfield resident and Board President of the Northfield Savings Bank Foundation. Over 20 area anti-hunger advocates had the opportunity to network with one another, share the greatest challenges they face in their work, and identify three key issues to bring to the larger community to address hunger in their towns.
Hunger Curriculum: In the fall of 2007, in conjunction with our annual Hike for Hunger fundraising event and CHAIR in Washington County, VTCECH is unveiling our Feeding Minds elementary school curriculum. This project was inspired by feedback from educators, who have asked for better ways to educate their students about hunger, nutrition, and community service in general. To learn more, click here.
Ultimately, CHAIR will maximize the availability, implementation, and coordination of community nutrition resources – including the federal nutrition programs, nutrition education programs, the emergency food system, and local food resources – to develop strong, local nutrition safety nets that keep kids fed.
To learn more about CHAIR, please contact Joanne Heidkamp, Program Director. |
