Washington County Legislators Talk Hunger with SPI and the Vermont Foodbank
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
"In order for [the community] to effectively address hunger, we really need to start asking what the causes of it are," said Representative Thomas Koch at the Vermont Foodbank in Barre this past weekend.
On Saturday, April 12th community members, local legislators, the Vermont Foodbank, and the Service Politics Institute (SPI) gathered for a day of service and policy discussion to draw awareness around hunger in Vermont. After hours of food sorting and volunteer service, Representatives Thomas Koch, Patricia McDonald, Leo Valliere, and over 30 volunteers took a break to discuss the social and economic issues facing hungry people in Vermont.
The Vermont Foodbank's Chief Executive Officer, Doug O'Brien, opened up the discussion with a summary of the organization's operations, mission, and legislative challenges. The Vermont Foodbank, a statewide organization, is the largest hunger-relief charity in Vermont, providing more than 6 million pounds of food to 270 local partner agencies in all 14 counties last year. The Vermont Foodbank and its partners served more than 66,000 needy Vermonters with more than 5 million meals in 2007.
The discussion was informative and the audience eclectic. Participants included members of the Waterbury Congregational Church, the Church of Christ of Montpelier, and Penn State alumni. Each state representative spoke briefly about his or her perspective on hunger and encouraged volunteers formulate plans to address the issue at the state level.
"The state legislature has to prioritize. Currently, our demands are in affordable housing and transportation, not hunger. If you want us to address it at the policy level, you're going to have to give us a plan," said Representative Valliere. Despite hunger's apparent absence from recent legislation, there have been smaller policy gains to address the problem. For example, Vermont's School Breakfast Program fell under the jurisdictional support of Representative Patricia McDonald. She encouraged volunteers to keep raising awareness and to contact local legislators.
On Saturday, April 12th community members, local legislators, the Vermont Foodbank, and the Service Politics Institute (SPI) gathered for a day of service and policy discussion to draw awareness around hunger in Vermont. After hours of food sorting and volunteer service, Representatives Thomas Koch, Patricia McDonald, Leo Valliere, and over 30 volunteers took a break to discuss the social and economic issues facing hungry people in Vermont.
The Vermont Foodbank's Chief Executive Officer, Doug O'Brien, opened up the discussion with a summary of the organization's operations, mission, and legislative challenges. The Vermont Foodbank, a statewide organization, is the largest hunger-relief charity in Vermont, providing more than 6 million pounds of food to 270 local partner agencies in all 14 counties last year. The Vermont Foodbank and its partners served more than 66,000 needy Vermonters with more than 5 million meals in 2007.
The discussion was informative and the audience eclectic. Participants included members of the Waterbury Congregational Church, the Church of Christ of Montpelier, and Penn State alumni. Each state representative spoke briefly about his or her perspective on hunger and encouraged volunteers formulate plans to address the issue at the state level.
"The state legislature has to prioritize. Currently, our demands are in affordable housing and transportation, not hunger. If you want us to address it at the policy level, you're going to have to give us a plan," said Representative Valliere. Despite hunger's apparent absence from recent legislation, there have been smaller policy gains to address the problem. For example, Vermont's School Breakfast Program fell under the jurisdictional support of Representative Patricia McDonald. She encouraged volunteers to keep raising awareness and to contact local legislators.
posted by The Service Politics Crew at
10:49 AM
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