Sheldon foodshelf to stock shelves with $4,000 grant

Tom Andrew presents the UMFNE grant to John Gorton and other food shelf workers.

SHELDON — The Sheldon food shelf will be stocking its shelves with a $4,000 grant from the United Methodist Foundation of New England.

UMFNE foundation grant committee member Tom Andrew visited on Tuesday to present the check to food shelf leader John Gorton and other workers at the food shelf at 52 Church St. in Sheldon.

The grant will go toward supporting both the food shelf’s “Welcome Home” initiative and the shelf’s food supply provided to local students for the upcoming school year.

The “Welcome Home” initiative helps to provide groceries and other personal care products for those moving from transitional to permanent housing. It is run through the food shelf with the guidance of Jessica Moore, pastor of First Congregational Church in St. Albans.

“It’s developing more networks between a faith community and social services, which has been super beneficial,” Moore said.

Sheldon Elementary School nurse Cindy Hale, who is the liaison between the food shelf and the school, said the shelf also provides snacks to students who may not have access to them on their own.

“There’s kids who are just growing and hungry…whether they’re hungry because lunch has worn off, or because they know they’re not going to have a snack when they get home,” Hale said.

Andrew praised the food shelf for its plentiful offerings; instead of just canned or low-nutrition foods, the shelf offers a variety of produce and meat options for visitors.

“This belies the false impression that food banks are canned foods, cereal…the first thing you see when you walk in here is fresh produce,” Andrew said.

The Sheldon food shelf provides nutritious produce and deli meat to visitors.

The food shelf, which is run entirely by a small team of unpaid workers, partners with and makes stops at four different local Hannaford grocery stores weekly to help stock the shelves. By the end of the weekly stops, the food shelf ends up with about 1,500 lbs of food from the grocery stores to provide to visitors. Hannaford provides produce, deli meats and even baked goods to the food shelf.

In total, the food shelf typically moves a little over 20,000 lbs. of food and serves about 350 families per month.

Yet the food shelf doesn’t just serve Sheldon residents; visitors come from Richford, Fairfax, Alburgh, Jeffersonville and more, Gorton said. The shelf also has varied hours throughout the week and weekend, to give opportunities for anyone who is in need to visit.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, food shelf workers realized the real need for greater access to the shelf, and started operating on regular weekly hours, Gorton said.

Gorton said the food shelf typically sees anywhere from 15 to 30 families per day on the four days per week the shelf is open.

Instead of being handed pre-packaged bags, visitors to the food shelf can walk in, grab a cart and shop around for what they need.

“You take what is it that meets your need. We don’t want to try to guess what a person might need,” Gorton said.

Moore said at the Tuesday grant ceremony that through her time working on the “Welcome Home” initiative with the food shelf, she’s seen firsthand the impact it has on the Sheldon community.

“From the first day I walked into this food shelf, I was completely blown away by the hospitality of the folks who work here,” Moore said. “Everybody who came through was treated like family, and there’s no shaming; it’s all love.”

Written By

Staff Writer

Jackie DiBartolomeo covers all things Franklin County and the unique communities within it. Before moving to Vermont, she covered local news in the Washington D.C. area. Reach her at [email protected].

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