Category: Mission

Summer Lunch Distribution

Since the Covid-19 shutdown, all children in our school district have been offered free breakfast and lunch for every day of the week.  This has been provided by the Harwood Food Service.  That program will be ending on June 12 and the baton passed to us and the Barre School District Food Service.  

We will be coordinating volunteers to pick up the meals (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) at the Berlin Park n’ Ride and to pass them out at the church during pick up hours (9 – 10 am).

There are several other churches in Waterbury who have agreed to provide help and we will be utilizing a SignUpGenius Form to coordinate all of this.  If you can spare an hour and a half, please consider helping.  It’s a big responsibility for just a few people to bear.  Even if you can only help once, it will make this project manageable for those of us who must fill in the gaps.

Here are the details:
1) Drivers:  There are two slots for drivers.  Please only fill in the Waterbury slot.  Waitsfield has it’s own team and will be doing distribution differently in the Valley.  You must have a large vehicle to signup for this.  A pickup truck or SUV would be ideal.  A large car with fold-down back seats should work.  You will be picking up approximately 600 meals.   

The driver volunteer will stop at church to pick up the empty coolers, which will be locked together under the church’s drive-under, drive to the Park ‘n Ride and return by 9 am.

2) Servers:  We need two servers at the church.  (You can be a server and a driver if you desire). We will set up in the drive-under so that even in the event of rain, curbside pickup is still possible and efficient.  One person will hand out the bags of foods through the car window.  The other will keep the tally.  Servers will arrive 15 minutes or so before 9 to set up and be ready for the food when it arrives.  The drive-thru will end at 10 am and the servers will then clean up and be done for the day.

All servers will be required to wear masks and gloves and keep the recommended 6 feet or more distance between other individuals.

Gloves and disinfectant will be provided.

Here’s the link again to the SignUpGenius. You may sign up as far ahead as you’d like.

Feeding Children During Covid-19

While schools are closed, Harwood Unified Union School District will be providing FREE meals to all children 18 and under.

Starting Wednesday, March 18th, visit us on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at one of our pick-up locations:

Thatcher Brook Primary School – Entrance on High St.
9:00 am – 1:00 pm

Moretown Elementary School – Bus Loop
9:45 am – 10:05 am

Waitsfield Elementary School – Parking Lot
10:25 am – 10:45 am

Harwood High School – Bus Loop
11:05 am – 11:25 am

Fayston Elementary School – Parking Lot
9:45 am – 10:05 am

Warren Elementary School – Bus Loop
10:25 am – 10:45 am

On Mondays, each child will receive 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches (4 meals).
On Wednesdays, each child will receive 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches (4 meals).
On Fridays, each child will receive 1 breakfast and 1 lunch (2 meals).

Procedures:
1- Please fill our google form so we can estimate how many meals to make. If you don’t have internet access please call 802-583-8022 to place an order. An order is not mandatory, but appreciated. We don’t want to run out of meals. https://forms.gle/VdXz8QmCwkfMMk6n7
2- Drive or walk to a pick up site. Children do not need to be present. Let volunteers know many children you need meals for, no questions asked.
3- Children do not need to be enrolled at HUUSD. All children will be fed as long as they are 18 and under.
4- All meals are prepared by our culinary team at Harwood High School.

For more information:
Phone: 802-583-8022 (Thatcher Brook Food & Nutrition)
email: Erika Dolan – edolan@huusd.org
Like us on Facebook @HUUSDFOOD
Visit our Website food.huusd.org

Human Food Chain – November 17, 2024

There’s no symbol more appropriate for expressing our theological understanding that God is the energy of love and goodwill in the world, and we co-conspirators, than people linked hand to hand against a trouble.

There are surprisingly large numbers of people, living in Waterbury who face the troubling question of making ends meet this month. An answer, though clearly not the whole solution, is to provide food available for free for anyone in this kind of trouble, be it temporary or long-term. The Waterbury Common Market, aka the food shelf, does this for hundreds of families each month.

On November 17, you are invited to join together, standing arm-to-arm and hand-to-hand against hunger and in support of all of those individuals and families who rely on the Common Market to get them out of a jam. Here’s how we do it:


We’ve been collecting food. If you can bring in a little food (see below for what kinds of food are needed) the next few times you come to church, we’ll be able to make a statement by standing arm to arm in sharing food, and tangibly help people today in our community who struggle with food insecurity. Leave your food in the narthex of the church or in the office, depending on which way you come in. By November 17, we hope to have a large assortment that we will then pass down to the food shelf hand over hand.

Here’s a list of needed supplies from the director of the Waterbury Area Food Shelf:

  • oatmeal (plain or flavored)
  • hearty soups
  • canned meals
  • peanut butter & jelly/jam
  • baking mixes (pancake, muffin, cake)
  • jars of pasta sauce
  • dried pasta/noodles
  • or simply a check (you can make it out to the church and earmark it for the food drive.)

I hope you can join us on November 17, after worship. It’s simple. And it’s powerful.

CROP Hunger Walk

We’re organizing for our umpteenth CROP Hunger walk to take place on October 6. As has been our tradition, we invite local churches to walk with us and raise money with us. The slogan of the walk is, “We walk because they walk.” In other words, it’s not just about the money, but about the spirit, the solidarity, the commitment to the hungry in our community and our world. You can make a donation to this cause by finding a walker to sponsor. You can sponsor with any amount of money.

The walk begins in our church parking lot at 1 P.M. with registration just prior. Join us if you can!

Last year’s walkers heading out. . .

Hurricane Relief

Early last week, the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas were hit directly by Hurricane Dorian, at that time a very slow moving, category 5 hurricane. Recent reports suggest that as much as 60% of the island’s housing and infrastructure is completely destroyed. Dorian remains a powerful and dangerous storm as it slides past the Carolinas, thankfully many miles offshore. It will cause extensive damage there too.

What now?!

There will be massive clean-up and restoration efforts and Church World Service and the United Church of Christ, two of our affiliate organizations, will be responding. You may give to either organization by putting a check in our offering. You can make checks out to the church and earmark it hurricane relief. We’ll credit your account with us and mail out one (or two checks in the coming weeks).

Thank you for your help.