Special fundraising effort celebrates 10th year of partnership

Colchester, Vt.—For every gift to Vermont Public on Giving Tuesday, the Vermont Community Foundation and its generous fundholders will donate the equivalent of 23 meals that Vermont Foodbank can offer to community members facing hunger and food insecurity.

Giving Tuesday is an annual global day of giving that arose in response to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This global celebration of philanthropy gives people an opportunity to focus their holiday spirit on organizations doing important work in their communities.

“We are happy to collaborate with the Vermont Foodbank and the Vermont Community Foundation on Giving Tuesday for the tenth consecutive year,” said Vermont Public CEO Vijay Singh. “As a statewide institution deeply rooted in the communities we serve, we are committed to improving the quality of life in our region. Our audience has embraced what has become a Giving Tuesday tradition; helping neighbors in need and supporting the mission of public media at the same time.”

In 2023, UVM released data showing that 2 in 5 people in Vermont reported facing food insecurity in the year prior. The last two years have brought catastrophic flooding around the state, which continued to amplify challenges for our neighbors experiencing hunger.

But flooding was just the most recent in a cascade of crises that Vermont households have been facing. The need for food assistance was also increased by Vermont’s housing crisis and challenging economic conditions, in addition to the end of pandemic-era supports that were helping Vermonters access the nourishing food they need and want.

The Vermont Foodbank is the state’s largest hunger relief organization, working with more than 300 partners across the state – including food shelves, meal sites, schools, and hospitals. It has distributed more than 60 million pounds of food since 2020.

“Vermont Foodbank is the state’s only food bank – and we can’t do this work alone. Our partners across the state, neighbors, government at all levels, donors, volunteers – we are all working together to help make sure that people have access to nourishing food this holiday season and all year long,” said John Sayles, CEO of Vermont Foodbank.

“For years Vermont Public, the Vermont Foodbank, and the VCF have come together on Giving Tuesday to support our neighbors facing food insecurity across the state,” said Dan Smith, president & CEO of Vermont Community Foundation. “The longevity of this partnership reflects Vermonters’ deep commitment to ensuring no one goes without. By joining forces, we’re able to help meet immediate needs this holiday season while building a stronger, more connected future for everyone in our community.”

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.

Learn more and donate at vermontpublic.org through 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, December 3.

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.

This is our tenth 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. In 2023 and 2024, we partnered with VCF to raise support for the Vermont Flood Response and Recovery fund.

For any gift to Vermont Public, the Vermont Community Foundation and its generous fundholders will donate $83, the cash equivalent of 23 meals, to the Vermont Foodbank. Funds donated to Vermont Public during the Giving Tuesday campaign will stay with the organization.

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.

The FCC prohibits us from fundraising directly on the air for any organization other than ourselves unless a waiver is granted. However, the kind of Giving Tuesday partnership we’re in is allowed by the FCC 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 also helps 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. Following the devastating flooding that hit our state during the summers of 2023 and 2024, Vermont Public raised more than $900,000 for the Vermont Community Foundation’s Vermont Flood Response and Recovery Fund.

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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, schools, hospitals, and housing sites. Food insecurity has increased dramatically as a result of the pandemic, economic disruptions, and recent flooding. The Vermont Foodbank and its network have been on the front lines, working to ensure that everyone has the food they need to maintain their health. Last year, the Vermont Foodbank provided over 12 million pounds of food to people throughout Vermont. The Vermont Foodbank, a member of Feeding America, is nationally recognized as one of the most effective and efficient nonprofits and food banks in the nation.