Capstone and VSECU Partner on Fuel Your Neighbors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact:  Yvonne Lory, Capstone Community Action
Phone: (802) 479-1053
Email: ylory@capstonevt.org

 

Capstone and VSECU Partner on Fuel Your Neighbors

Initiative provides emergency food and heating assistance to vulnerable central Vermonters

 

Barre, Vt. – Winter is a tough time for thousands of central Vermonters as they’re forced to choose between paying for food and paying for heat. That’s why Capstone Community Action and VSECU (Vermont State Employees Credit Union) are teaming up again this winter on Fuel Your Neighbors, an initiative which supports emergency food and heating assistance for vulnerable central Vermont households.

 

Too many Vermont families must choose between basic necessities like food and heat, and often have to sacrifice one to pay for the other. Children and seniors are the most vulnerable to the high costs of winter, and are the most adversely affected. This year Capstone will work with over 7,000 people to help combat these challenges, putting food on their tables and keeping the heat on during the cold winter months.

 

Capstone Community Action and VSECU, with support from The Point FM, are partnering on Fuel Your Neighbors to engage the community on this important need. In 2016, the program’s first year, the campaign raised $67,000, surpassing its original goal of $50,000. This year Fuel Your Neighbors aims to raise $100,000 over the next 100 days to help prevent our neighbors from going to sleep cold and hungry. The initiative kicks off on November 28, Giving Tuesday, which is the international philanthropic day of giving.

 

To inspire others to take part in this effort, VSECU will match up to $10,000 donated to the campaign, magnifying the impact of each donation.

 

“This is a tremendous opportunity, thanks again to the generosity of VSECU, to bring our community together to meet this pressing need,” said Dan H. Hoxworth, Executive Director of Capstone. “One in five central Vermont children don’t have enough food to eat, which impacts their ability to thrive in school because they are hungry. Forty percent of those we help with emergency heating are retired seniors whose fixed income can only be stretched so far.”

 

“At VSECU we believe creating prosperity is a team effort, and we should all feel empowered to either lend a hand or ask for help,” said Rob Miller, CEO of VSECU. “By being part of Fuel Your Neighbors, VSECU is helping to build a community of Vermonters who all have a share in our state’s collective success. When we support our neighbors, we support all Vermonters.”

 

Learn more about Fuel Your Neighbors at fuelyourneighbors.org.

 

Capstone Community Action was founded in 1965 and works to alleviate the suffering caused by poverty and to create economic opportunity for people and communities. Capstone’s programs include emergency food, heat and utility assistance, housing counseling and homelessness intervention, transportation assistance, savings and credit coaching, micro-business development, home weatherization, and child and family development programs in Early Head Start/Head Start. We serve over 15,000 people through these programs each year. www.capstonevt.org.

 

VSECU is a member-owned cooperative and not for profit credit union for everybody who lives and works in Vermont, offering a full range of affordable financial products and services to its member-owners. VSECU is committed to improving the lives of Vermonters by empowering the possibilities for greater social, environmental, and financial prosperity. For more information about VSECU, call 802/800 371-5162 or visit www.vsecu.com.

 

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