Election Day Food Donation Tradition Continues – Waterbury Roundabout

For more than 20 years, Waterbury voters have combined their vote in the November election with a food drive that occurs just as the local food shelf begins to see its busiest traffic of the year.

This year is no different as supplies at the Waterbury Common Market (formerly the Waterbury Area Food Shelf) are starting to run low.

According to market director Sara Whitehair, the need is always there, but it increases in the fall when people face fuel bills and other winter-related expenses.

Working to help stock the shelves was Mary Miller of Waterbury and a team of volunteers

will hold the annual Election Day food drive at Brookside Primary School polling stations

Tuesday, November 5th. They will accept canned goods, non-perishable foods and monetary donations from 7 a.m. until polls close at 7 p.m

In a recent community announcement, Whitehair listed some of the market’s current product needs, including: crunchy peanut butter, crackers, nuts, pretzels, popcorn, snack bars, pasta, oatmeal, as well as reusable grocery bags and paper towels, as well as personal care items such as shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, lotion .

If you would like to vote before November 5th and contribute to the effort, use the donation bins at the Waterbury Village Market or Shaw’s to drop off food (or stop by the polls). Monetary gifts can be mailed to: Waterbury Common Market, 57 S. Main Street, Waterbury, VT 05676. Financial donations enable the Food Shelf to purchase food directly from the Vermont Foodbank and other sources to fill gaps and the Keeping shelves stocked.

The first Election Day food drive was held in 2000 and raised $359 and a dozen boxes of food. In 2018, the last election before the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person contact was stopped, 32 bags were filled and the drive raised $2,176 in cash.

Miller noted that the ongoing success of this effort shows that Waterbury is a very generous and caring community.

For those needing help serving groceries, the Waterbury Common Market is open to all residents of the Waterbury area, including Duxbury, Bolton, Middlesex, Moretown and Stowe.

The market is located at 57 S. Main Street and is open Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon and Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (the previous Tuesday evening hours were discontinued due to the winter season. The market hopes to resume in the spring .)

Further information online here.