BRATTLEBORO — COVID-19 has encouraged collaboration between organizations to an extent not seen before. This year, St. Brigid's Kitchen and Foodworks collaborated to create November and December food boxes, joining forces to distribute more than 400 boxes of holiday food to anyone in need.
For many years, St. Brigid's Kitchen & Pantry and Foodworks of Groundworks Collaborative, both in Brattleboro, have each distributed holiday food boxes in both November and December. These events usually involve transforming our normal locations into festive free “storefronts” where people choose items that best make sense for their family. We knew that with COVID-19, we wouldn't be able to have these indoor distribution events and would have to come up with a creative solution. We decided to collaborate on an outdoor distribution event, which we did with great success.
Combining forces helped each organization manage its unique logistical challenges.
Brigid's Kitchen supplied an outdoor venue more suitable for a COVID-safe distribution, as well as the people power to both assemble the holiday boxes and manage distribution. Foodworks supplied much of the food and created an updated registration and scheduling system. Sharing a registration system benefited the people receiving these boxes as well, creating multiple avenues for registration to ensure that no one in need of food would go without.
Most importantly, by sharing resources, the contents of the boxes were made much more abundant than if we were each distributing food on our own.
Groundworks and St. Brigid's Kitchen are grateful for the many people who helped make these special boxes possible. A big thank you to our great crew of volunteers who helped pack and distribute the boxes on two cold Sunday afternoons and enjoyed helping to make this difficult season happier for so many. We hope to see many more collaborations occur throughout the community.
Brigid's Kitchen serves free to-go lunch to anyone in need at 38 Walnut St. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more information on how to support St. Brigid's Kitchen or receive help, call 802-558-6072 or visit StBrigidsKitchenAndPantry.org.
Foodworks at 141 Canal St. supplies drive-thru personalized groceries to anyone in need on Mondays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesdays from 1 to 6 p.m., Fridays from noon to 4 p.m., and the last Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon. Deliveries can be scheduled on Tuesdays only by calling 802-490-2412 or emailing [email protected]. For more information on how to support Foodworks, visit GroundworksVT.org.