BRATTLEBORO — Project Feed the Thousands organizers have announced that their recently completed campaign, now in its 27th year, has raised almost $125,000 in cash contributions, along with collecting enough non-perishable food items to provide more than 340,000 nutritious meals to friends and neighbors facing food insecurity during these challenging times.
“In a year when we perceived it to be improbable, if not impossible, to achieve at least last year's campaign totals, the impossible happened,” said George Haynes, co-founder of Project Feed the Thousands, in a news release. “The impossible became a reality. This has been one of the most successful campaigns in our 27 year history, defying all expectations.”
Haynes said that for several years, Project Feed benefitted from a large corporate donation from Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, which ceased operations in 2014.
The annual fundraising effort has overcome the loss of a major donor, yielding “tremendous support from not only corporate donors and numerous businesses, both large and small, but also from the community as a whole.”
Kelli Corbeil, campaign co-chair and owner of WTSA radio, echoed Haynes's sentiment, noted that this year's campaign set a target of matching the accomplishments of the previous year ($85,000 in cash and collecting enough non-perishable food items to provide 250,000 meals).
“What we ended up raising is nothing short of astonishing,” she said.
Jeff Morse, strategic advisor at River Valley Credit Union and Project Feed's other co-chair, called the project's donor base “the bedrock of our success.”
“This year, with all of the awareness brought about by the pandemic, many increased their donations generously, and the number of new contributors this year has been incredible,” he said. “Words cannot express our gratitude.”
Pandemic presents new challenges
Haynes and the rest of the Project Feed team were concerned that the many local businesses, banks, stores, and offices that are typically involved in the campaign would not be able to participate as they had in the past.
“We chose not to put out significant numbers of food bins and cash collection boxes out of safety concerns,” Haynes said.
“Unlike past years, we were not able to hold any large events, such as remote broadcasts,” said Corbeil, “which were unfortunate cuts into our normal fundraising mechanisms.”
One example was the loss of Project Feed's popular 'Fill the Bus' Day for local students.
“With so many of our students attending school in a hybrid model, attending class only one or two days a week, or in some cases, fully remote, we chose not to reach out to the schools,” Corbeil said. “We couldn't envision a significant way for them to participate.”
“Imagine how thrilled we were to have schools reach out to us, ultimately conducting very successful campaigns despite their challenges,” she said.
To help pick-up the fundraising slack, Morse said that Project Feed started a GoFundMe page this year, launching it on Giving Tuesday in conjunction with an all-day radiothon.
Project Feed the Thousands, first launched in 1994 by Larry Smith, then of WTSA Radio, and Haynes, former president of Brattleboro Savings & Loan, is the region's largest community food drive.
Nine area food shelves benefit from the campaign: Foodworks, St. Brigid's Kitchen, and Loaves & Fishes Community Kitchen, all in Brattleboro; Guilford Cares Food Pantry; Bread of Life Food Pantry in Vernon; Hinsdale (N.H.) Food Pantry; Our Place Drop In Center in Bellows Falls; Putney Foodshelf; and Townshend Community Food Shelf.
For more information, or to donate, visit projectfeedthethousands.org.