Feeding Chittenden unveils new name, expands reach, launches fundraiser

Read the full article at samessenger.com. Here is an excerpt:

Dozens gathered Tuesday at Colchester Food Hub, a Food Access Network warehouse, to unveil Feeding Chittenden’s new name: Feeding Champlain Valley.

The public launch of a new name this morning at the FAN facility on Acorn lane in Colchester was done, in part, to better reflect Feeding Champlain Valley’s contributions throughout the entire Champlain Valley region — in Addison, Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle Counties.

Feeding Champlain Valley has developed new systems and partnerships in recent years, aimed at connecting the people it serves to nutritious food, reducing food waste and preparing a new generation of food service professionals for successful careers.

In conjunction with the name change, Feeding Champlain Valley also publicized a fundraising campaign Tuesday morning, called “The Fund to Feed Champlain Valley,” with a goal of raising $7.5 million to ensure strategic investments in infrastructure, food access and service capacity.

After some initial time for attendees to mingle and enjoy refreshments, Rob Meehan, director of Feeding Champlain Valley, opened the event formally.

Meehan has been director for the past 17 years, though it was 50 years ago in 1974 that the organization’s beginnings came about, via the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf, formed as part of what was then the Community Action Council — today known as the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, the parent organization to Feeding Champlain Valley.