05.12.2021
RSG Director assists Vermont food aid pilot program
RSG Director Jon Slason recently supported Capstone Community Action with the logistics of expanding their successful Everyone Eats program in Vermont as part of the Orange County Parent Child Food Pilot. The project necessitated the creation of a functional and efficient distribution process to facilitate the assembly and transport of meals and food to the Orange County Parent Child Center.
“Jon's work really helped us by providing a valuable analytical perspective in understanding the various aspects involved in moving people and goods to support local families,” said Liz Scharf, Director of Community Economic Development at Capstone Community Action. “His consulting background, combined with his awareness of the challenges our target audience faces, helped us apply useful metrics and analytics to our program.”
Jon assisted with the program’s creation and solicited feedback from stakeholders and supporters, which helped inform the final design. Developing the pilot program required close cooperation between Capstone Community Action, the Community Kitchen Academy, the Vermont Food Bank, and employee volunteers from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont.
The collaboration and planning on the part of all pilot program participants resulted in a successful meals program for Vermont families. In the pilot program’s first week alone, 70 meals were distributed to families in need. Based on the pilot’s success, program participants and stakeholders are already looking for ways to expand it by working with local farmers.