Foodbank director announces resignation

September 16, 2008

BARRE – Douglas O'Brien, executive director of the Vermont Foodbank, has announced his resignation, citing personal and family reasons. He will leave at the end of September.

"We are deeply saddened by Doug's decision to resign," said Lynne Jaunich, the chairwoman of the food bank's board. She called the decision "an unfortunate consequence of a failing housing market."

The O'Briens were unable to sell their home in Illinois after they moved to Vermont last year.

The Vermont Foodbank, a nonprofit hunger relief organization, acquires food from nationwide sources and makes it available to a network of 270 local emergency food shelves, senior centers, shelters and after-school programs. Last year it distributed nearly 6.5 million pounds of food to more than 66,000 Vermonters in need of food assistance.

O'Brien began working at the Vermont Foodbank in June 2007. He came to the job from America's Second Harvest where he served as vice president of federal policy and legislative affairs and created the organization's public policy and research departments. (Earlier this month America's Second Harvest changed its name to Feeding America.)

O'Brien began his career in Washington., D.C., as a member of U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy's legislative staff when Leahy was chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.

"If ending hunger in our lifetime will be accomplished anywhere, it will be here in Vermont," O'Brien said in a written statement. "The dedication and concern of Vermonters for one for another, neighbor helping neighbor in need, has been truly the most rewarding work in my professional life."

O'Brien's legislative experience proved an asset during the process of passing the Farm Bill this year. He worked with Leahy's office to ensure that Vermont would receive increased commodities. "We really benefited from his experience of working of working on hunger issues," a staff member said. "He's a visionary."

During O'Brien tenure, the Vermont Foodbank purchased a 20-acre farm in Warren to grow fresh produce for local food pantries and merged with Salvation Farms, with the goal of extending its gleaning program – which allows people to pick produce from the fields after the harvest is complete — statewide.

The food bank has hired two new field coordinators for Salvation Farms, one in Lamoille County and another in Montpelier. The food bank has budgeted for nine more field coordinators and is planning to expand into Rutland, Addison and Windham counties and the Northeast Kingdom.

"Gleaning has been an amazing asset to the food bank, to have that extra food in inventory," said Judy Stermer, the food bank's public relations coordinator. "As soon as (food) comes into the food bank, it's out again – it doesn't stay in the coolers long. Now with this Wolcott facility, we'll be able to glean from more farms."

Stermer said that until now, the food bank hasn't had the storage capacity to glean from all the farms that want to take part in the program. "We're getting great community support for gleaning," she added. "Volunteers are coming out in droves. A couple of weeks ago, the St. Mike's women's cross country team came out and gleaned blueberries with us."

Stermer noted that the food bank's costs are going up and more people need food.

"We want to prepare and think creatively about how we're going to meet the demand this winter," she said. "We anticipate that there's going to be a spike: We're already seeing increased need of 25 to 30 percent over the same time last year. It's going to be a tough winter, and we're seeing signs of that already."

O'Brien has accepted a position with an international hunger relief organization, and the Vermont Foodbank will soon begin a nationwide search for a new chief executive officer.

"Our work is going to continue," Stermer said. "As much as we are going to miss Doug, he taught us a lot, and we're going to take that with us as we go."

September 16, 2008

Press Room