Vermont FoodBank Timeline

1983 – Central Vermont Community Action Council (CVCAC) meets to discuss the 350% increase in demand for emergency food

1983 – CVCAC begins a community hunger assessment

1984 – Assessment mirrors Central Vermont’s findings of unprecedented demand for emergency food

1985 – CVCAC and other statewide hunger organizations propose development of the Vermont Foodbank

1985/1986 – Governor Madeline Kunin’s Governor’s Task Force on Poverty and Hunger is established

1986 – CVCAC opens Vermont Foodbank on Gable Place in Barre through an affiliation with the Western Massachusetts Food Bank

1986 – Foodbank serves food shelves, pantries and other community meal sites from its 1,800 square foot warehouse

1987 – 145,000 pounds of food are distributed to 43 Network Partners

1988 – First anniversary of the Vermont Foodbank is observed

1989 – Vermont Foodbank chartered as separate Vermont non-profit entity

1992 – The Foodbank distributes 745,000 pounds of food

1994 – Foodbank becomes Certified Affiliate of America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network

1999 – Warehouse roof collapses at Foodbank in South Barre

2001 – Foodbank builds new 26,000 square-foot warehouse and office facility in Barre’s Wilson Industrial Park

2001 - Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) for low-income seniors is administered by the Foodbank for the first time

2004 – Foodbank begins Neighborhood Pantry Express program – a food pantry on wheels that brings 5,000 pounds of food to central locations for distribution

2005 – The number of families accessing food shelves increases by 50% since 1997

2006 – Vermont Foodbank and Food Works, Two Rivers Farm partner on development of the Foodbank Farm, providing fresh vegetables for distribution to Network Partners

2006 – Total food distribution for FY2006 is nearly 6.5 million pounds

2006 – The Vermont Foodbank observes its 20th anniversary