PUTNEY — Like many after the November 2016 election, Peg Alden found herself feeling overwhelmed and outraged about what was happening in this country.
Wanting to do something that might make a difference, she found out about a newly-formed organization called Sister District, whose mission is to harness the energy of volunteers in deeply blue (or red) places and channel it to where it can make a real impact.
Sister District uses a network of local teams that support strategic, winnable races across the country. Their focus is down-ballot on critical state races where Democratic control hangs in the balance. (www.sisterdistrict.com)
Wanting to create a Vermont chapter of Sister District, Alden heard that Tammy McNamara, whom she had never met, but who lived a mile away, was also working to team up with Sister District.
Alden and McNamara quickly joined forces and brought in Diane Shamas as part of their small leadership team. Together, they hatched the idea for and launched the Vermont Sister District Soup Project, which used the CSA (community supported agriculture) model of selling shares of monthly soups to raise money for John Bell, a candidate in a tight race for the House of Delegates in Virginia District 87.
In addition to raising money via their Soup Project, they worked to connect with local groups to publicize their work. They invited people to join phone banking sessions and postcard writing in support of their candidate.
In their first round, they raised more than $3,500 for Bell, with 70 people signing up for a four-month soup subscription and 12 chefs making a gallon or two of soup each month.
For those supporters who were on vacation or lived out of the area, there was the popular option of donating all or part of their share to the Putney Food Shelf, which resulted in 80 quarts being donated.
Over the summer, Alden visited Bell in Virginia and brought him some soup as he campaigned ahead of the Nov. 7 general election.
Shamas, in charge of soups, put quite a bit of work into testing recipes to meet the criteria that all were delicious, easy to make in large quantities, highlighted local, seasonal produce, cost the chefs no more than $20 a gallon to make, and were vegetarian and gluten/dairy free.
Chefs who volunteered received a recipe, containers, and beautiful labels listing all the ingredients, and the name of the chef. Subscribers picked up their “share” at a location in Putney or Brattleboro.
Now this group is ready for round two, and will offer two more four-month subscriptions, October through January, and February through May. Their goal is to raise $10,000 by May. Proceeds support Bell and Jennifer Carroll Foy (another Democratic candidate for Virginia House of Delegates) and the national Sister District organization.