Eight Oh Two Partners with The Vermont Foodbank

Your support makes a difference.

Ski trips, maple syrup, foliage forays, cheese & spirits tours, long hikes and farm-to-table dining are the things that first come to mind when thinking about the Green Mountain State. Affluent travelers often visit Vermont with this romanticized view, hoping to experience the wonder and adventure they’ve read about.

However, like much of the country, Vermont is also rife with poverty, and one in four of its residents struggles with hunger. These souls must turn to food shelves and meal service programs to feed themselves and their families. That’s around 153,000 of our neighbors, community members, and friends, including an estimated 33,900 children and 26,010 older Vermonters.

Eight Oh Two Marketing has strong roots in Vermont — 802 is the state area code, so it’s part of who we are. We want to give back to our community of origin, so beginning in 2019, we will donate a portion of our annual profits to the Vermont Foodbank, an organization with a strong network of partners — boots on the ground getting help to folks in need every day.

How Vermont Foodbank Makes an Impact:

The Vermont Foodbank has established multiple strategies to decrease hunger and increase the quality of life for Vermont residents. The following are just some of the systems they have developed in an effort to achieve their goal:

Gathering food through donations, harvesting surplus produce at local farms, and purchasing fresh, top quality produce from local farmers
Sharing food with older adults, children, and low-income families through schools, hospitals, and partner food shelves
1,350 youths will receive backpacks filled with food each week through the Vermont Foodbank’s BackPack program
Providing culinary job training though the Community Kitchen Academy to educate unemployed and underemployed Vermonters —91% of graduates successfully find employment in the culinary industry
Offering cooking demos and taste tests at food shelves to encourage the consumption of fresh produce
Providing application assistance to low-income families to get them signed up for 3SquaresVT, a federal program that provides funds to purchase groceries
Raising awareness about hunger and poverty

In our own community of Bennington, Vermont Foodbank boasts the following stats:

Bennington County School BackPack Partners

BackPack: Helping Vermont children to enjoy their weekends free from worry about going hungry, by filling their backpacks each Friday during the school year with tasty, easy-to-prepare food items that are high in nutritional value.

Number of students enrolled in BackPack

= 5 students

Bennington County VeggieVanGo Partners

VeggieVanGo: Holding community events at schools and hospitals throughout the state, providing fruits, vegetables, and healthy food along with cooking demos and taste tests for people facing hunger.

Average Number of People Served		Average Number of People Served

Molly Stark Elementary School	South Vermont Medical Center	Molly Stark Elementary School	South Vermont Medical Center
		*The number of pounds distributed at Molly Stark is the second highest for all of Vermont

Average Number of People Served

Molly Stark
Elementary School

South Vermont Medical Center

Molly Stark Elementary School

South Vermont Medical Center

*The number of pounds distributed at Molly Stark is the second highest for all of Vermont

Bennington County Network Partners

Network Partners: The Vermont Foodbank distributes food to 215 food shelves, meal sites, after-school programs, senior housing facilities and shelters.

Eight Oh Two is proud to join the ranks in the fight against hunger in our home state,
and we’re very proud of the work the Vermont Foodbank is doing every day!