Coins for Community 2024/2025

January – Hope

H.O.P.E. (Helping Other People Everyday Inc.) has been in Lyndonville since 2009, and has been offering services to those in our community that require life’s basic necessities. Our mission has always been to help in a loving and compassionate way, and in doing so, we hope to instill a desire to help others. We operate a thrift store in downtown Lyndonville, stocked almost entirely with donations from community members, where our charitable organization is based out of. Over ten years ago, we started the first Backpack Program in our region, which provides bags of food to children from 9 area schools facing food insecurity over the weekends. This program has grown to be the most significant service we offer, and has the largest impact on our community. We also provide homeless services to those who find themselves suddenly homeless, emergency services for those facing a flood or fire, free clothing vouchers, and teacher packages throughout the school year to our area schools, filled with school supplies, just to name a few. We do all of this with no federal, state or local government funding; all of our work is funded through donation, while requests for our assistance have increased year to year.

Any funding provided through the Coins for Community would be spent on programming that we provide our community. While we try to use as much as we can from in-kind donations, we cannot solely rely on them, and do purchase on a monthly basis food/toiletry items/etc. for our various services.

February – Fairbanks Mueseum

March – Burke Meal Site/ Locally Social Gives

We provide Meals on Wheels for seniors in Burke, Sutton, Newark and East Haven. We also have in house meals and we have seniors from Burke, Lyndonville, Sheffield, Victory, East Haven and Newark attending. All seniors are welcome. We also have Bingo, Line Dancing, Bone Builders exercise class, crafts, blood pressure checks and Country Music Jams to keep our seniors active, healthy and engaged.

The funds would be used to help cover the cost of the meals we provide for our seniors. We are reimbursed for meals from NEK Council on Aging but it no where near covers the cost. We have to do fundraising for the rest. Your program greatly assist us in keeping our program going.

April – Kingdom Animal Shelter

Kingdom Animal Shelter is a limited access, primarily volunteer, non-profit certified 501(c) (3), animal rescue organization. Our mission is to facilitate the placement of rescued, abandoned, abused or neglected animals in safe, life-long homes. We respect the inherent value of every animal in our care and we strive to prevent overpopulation and cruelty to animals. Your Coins for Community Funds will help feed, house, medicate, provide veterinary care for our cats and kittens until they find their forever home.

Your Coins for Community Funds will help feed, house, medicate, provide veterinary care for our cats and kittens until they find their forever home.

May – Powers park/ Kiwanis

Kiwanis helps kids around the world. The St. Johnsbury Kiwanis Club maintains and operates the Kiwanis Pool in St. Johnsbury, a public pool that offers free Red Cross swim lessons to over 550 area children every summer. Family and physical therapy swim is also offered free of charge to the community. Funds will be used for general operation of the pool facilities during the summer swimming season.

It costs rougly $75,000 to operate the Kiwanis Pool during the summer swim season, about $1,000 each day. Funds from Coins for Community will be used to operate the Pool.

June – Vermont Childrens Theater/Friends of dog Mountain

The Vermont Children’s Theater (VCT) is a volunteer-run nonprofit organization that provides free summer theater programs for NEK-area youth aged 7–19. Every child or teen who auditions is included in one of three casts, which present their productions to the community during the month of July. Our goal is to provide a safe place for children and teens to stretch their creativity, build confidence, and foster friendships, while improving empathy, teamwork, literacy, communication, and problem solving. These skills not only contribute to the well-being of our young people now, but benefit them far into the future. In addition, we help support drama programs in local schools by lending them costumes, props, and set pieces.

At VCT, we believe we are responsible for reaching out to youth and families who may not otherwise have access to the unique artistic and educational experiences theater provides. In order to offer this program free to all children and teens who participate, we rely on volunteers, sponsorships, grants (when available), and donations to bridge the gap that ticket, concession, and ad sales don’t cover. We will utilize Coins for Community funds to maintain our free programming for all NEK youth ages 7–19. Funds will specifically be used to help pay for scripts, production licenses/royalties, and stipends for our directors.

Friends of Dog Mountain (FODM) is a non-profit organization established in 2015 by the friends and family of late American artists Stephen and Gwen Huneck. Our mission is to preserve and sustain the 150-acre Dog Mountain property in Vermont as a unique national treasure, honoring the healing power of “”dogs, nature, love, and art”” and celebrating the important artistic contributions of Stephen Huneck.

FODM aims to restore Dog Mountain as an historic, cultural, and artistic treasure of national importance and fulfill the Hunecks’ vision of creating a place of healing through nature, love, art, and pets. FODM recognizes Dog Mountain as an internationally recognized and celebrated destination for dog lovers and their families and seeks to preserve and curate Stephen’s artistic creations for future generations to enjoy. FODM also sees Dog Mountain as a valued economic and community partner and seeks to collaborate with local municipalities, businesses, and nonprofits to benefit the local communities and economies of St. Johnsbury and the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

Friends of Dog Mountain (FODM) will use funds raised from White Market’s Coins for Community program to further its mission of preserving and sustaining the Dog Mountain property in Vermont. The funds will be used to support the maintenance and improvement of the trails, facilities, and infrastructure on the property. This may include trail maintenance and improvements, upgrades to the Stephen Huneck Gallery, and the preservation of the Dog Chapel and other important features on the mountain. Additionally, FODM may use the funds to support educational and outreach programs, community events, and other initiatives that promote the mission and vision of the organization. Ultimately, the funds from White Market’s Coins for Community program will help FODM to continue its work in preserving Dog Mountain as a unique and important community resource.

July – Mountain view farm animal sanctuary

We are a registered 501c3 organization, founded in 2003, with a two-fold mission.

Our premier mission is to provide safe sanctuary for horses and large farm animals, particularly those in situations of abuse/neglect.

We aim to assist those in our most local community first and foremost, with consideration to a broader range based on level of need. We rehabilitate emotionally and physically, and provide the promise of a safe and healthy life for the remainder of that animal’s life.
Our secondary mission is to provide education on the topic of ethical treatment of animals, especially to our younger generations.

Funds generated will go towards our rescue and sanctuary efforts of residents present and future. They will assist us with rehabilitation and managerial costs of the animals and property, to better support our efforts. Examples of use of funds would be for feed, supplies, veterinary, dental and hoof care expenses, as well as fencing and structural repairs to improve the function of our facility and support our abilities to provide appropriate shelter and safe-keeping of our deserving residents.

August – Green mountain farm to school

Founded in 2008, Green Mountain Farm-to-School (GMFTS) has grown from a single school garden to a nonprofit organization with three robust programs that work to improve childhood nutrition, support Vermont’s food producers, and make fundamental changes in the region’s local food system by connecting schools, farms, and communities through food and education. In the past year, their Green Mountain Farm Direct program distributed $677,207 worth of local food from 50 farms and producers to 130 Vermont businesses, schools, food shelves, and other institutions throughout the state; their Lunchbox program provided 3,622 free meals to Northeast Kingdom children in the summer months; and their Farm-to-School program served 2,400 students in 17 different Northeast Kingdom schools. In addition, GMFTS is actively involved in other food access initiatives in the Northeast Kingdom region. GMFTS served as a community hub for Vermont Everyone Eats during the pandemic in St. Johnsbury and Newport to distribute over 100,000 prepared meals to community members. In response to the July 2023 floods, GMFTS again operated as a community hub for Vermont Emergency Eats and distributed over 10,000 prepared meals in Orleans. Today, GMFTS is actively growing its partnerships with holiday food box and school backpack program coordinators to provide local wholesome foods to children and families facing food insecurity over school breaks. Since 2020, GMFTS has donated food items to fill nearly 1,000 backpacks/food boxes.

Funding from Coins for Community would support increased access to healthy local foods for Northeast Kingdom children. GMFTS’s Farm Direct food hub sources locally-sourced whole foods to many NEK schools, including all schools in the KESU (Kingdom East). Each month, a different “Harvest of the Month” food product is highlighted in the school cafeteria to teach students about seasonality, healthy eating, and their local food system. During school breaks, GMFTS works to address food insecurity by partnering with holiday food box and school backpack programs to contribute nutritious locally-sourced foods. In recent years, GMFTS has supported HOPE Lyndonville’s family boxes and NEKCA backpack programs. GMFTS has also partnered directly with NEK schools. In addition to promoting the health of children, GMFTS’s work supports Vermont farmers and food producers.

September – Cobleigh Library / St. Johnsbury Athenaeum

The Cobleigh Library Bookmobile is an entirely grant and donation-funded arm of the Cobleigh Library that provides outreach services to area day cares, schools, and senior centers. The Bookmobile travels around the NEK with books, storytimes, puppet shows, and other programming, and helps provide library services for many who otherwise might not be able to access them.

The funds would be used to help keep the Bookmobile staffed so it can provide free library services to across our NEK service area (Lyndonville, Burke, Newark, Sutton, Wheelock, Sheffield, East Haven, Kirby)

Horace Fairbanks presented the St. Johnsbury Athenæum to the people of St. Johnsbury in 1871. Horace Fairbanks was a partner and later president of the E. and T. Fairbanks Company, the scale manufacturing company whose development influenced the history and growth of St. Johnsbury, and Vermont Governor from 1866-1868. New York architect John Davis Hatch III designed the Athenæum in French Second Empire style; the building is characterized by a mansard roof, tall arched windows which brighten the interior, elaborate woodwork, floors with alternating strips of ash and walnut and spiral staircases.

Mr. Fairbanks collected works by many contemporary American painters–primarily of the Hudson River School–and also acquired copies of classical paintings while traveling in Europe. In 1873 he added an Art Gallery to the main building. The purchase of Albert Bierstadt’s The Domes of the Yosemite, a colossal ten by fifteen foot painting, influenced the design of the gallery. This overwhelming panorama dominates the back wall of the gallery. Natural light from the gallery skylight enhances the effect of looking down into the valley from the artist’s vantage point.

The Fairbanks family augmented the gallery collection to create what is now a permanent collection of about one hundred works. The Hudson River School is represented by such well-known artists as Asher B. Durand (the father of American Landscape painting), Jasper Cropsey (known for autumn landscapes), Sanford Gifford (a Luminist painter), James and William Hart (pastoral landscapes with cattle), Samuel Colman and Worthington Whittredge (Western views).

Time magazine noted in 1965 that the St. Johnsbury Athenæum Art Gallery is “the United States’ oldest unaltered art gallery still standing.” The Athenæum intentionally retains the gallery’s original style and atmosphere. Paintings in the heavy gilded frames of that era hang one above another; white marble statues and busts sit atop pedestals; oak bookcases contain gold tooled leather bound books. This gallery is truly an authentic period piece.

The library’s book collection, originally consisting of 8,000 finely bound volumes selected with the advice of the noted bibliographer W.F. Poole, has been expanded to include nearly 45,000 volumes. In addition to physical books, the library has magazines, newspapers, DVD movies, CD audio books, e-books and and audio books online, a complete set of the local newspaper on microfilm, pamphlets and paperbacks.

Citing its remarkable architecture, well-preserved gallery of American paintings, and Poole’s original book collection, the United States Department of the Interior designated the St. Johnsbury Athenæum a National Historic Landmark in 1996. The Athenæum is one of the few libraries in the nation with this prestigious status.

The Athenæum serves as the town’s public library, but is an independent private corporation governed by a Board of Trustees. The Athenæum receives an appropriation from the town which covers about 20 percent of its annual budget.

The St. Johnsbury Athenæum stands as a permanent reminder of the generosity of the Fairbanks family and an invitation to visit the gracious world of the nineteenth century.

The Athenaeum will use the funds to benefit all aspects of our service to the community. It will allow us to purchase books, e-books, audio books and other materials for adults and children, It will help us maintain our National Historic Landmark building and unique art gallery. And it will help us continue to provide free events for the public for education, enlightenment and entertainment.

October – Lyndonville Toys for tots / St. Johnsbury Meals on Wheels

Lyndonville Toys For Tots works with the Toys For Tots Foundation and generous local donors to bring thousands of high-quality toys and books to the Northeast Kingdom to be distributed to children in our region during the holidays. In 2023, we distributed 1,088 toys, 998 books, and 546 stocking stuffers to 509 local children. By distributing through local schools, agencies, and daycares, toys are hand-picked by caring people who know the child and what they might like. We distribute toys in early December to allow parents time to receive and wrap the toys and hopefully support a stress-free holiday for local families.

100% of the funds will be used to purchase supplemental toys, books, and stocking stuffers for the 2024 holiday season.

St. Johnsbury Meals on Wheels Program, Monday through Friday at noon. Meals are prepared daily using local food when available out of the St. Johnsbury House. Serving those who are unable to leave their home with a hot nutritional meal and a wellness check. WE ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN A MEAL.

Covering the town of St. Johnsbury, East St. Johnsbury, Waterford. Passumpsic, with only 3 staff and 18 Volunteers. In 2023 we provide 31,245 meals to the most vulnerable in our community .Our meals cost $7.50 with an average donation of less than .50 cents per meal. All donations are directly applied to the food budget.

November – Fenton Chester Arena

Fenton Chester Arena in Lyndonvile, Vermont is a 4-seasons facility that has served the area for over 45 years. Three high school hockey teams, LAYHA, Caledonia Hockey Club, and adult hockey calls Fenton Chester Arena home. Fenton Chester Arena offers an extensive learn to skate program and figure skating. Public skating, homeschool, and area public schools occur at Fenton Chester Arena. During the warm months Fenton Chester Arena takes out the ice and puts in artificial turf for soccer, lacrosse, softball, baseball and roller hockey play. It also serves as a venue for job fairs and indoor concerts. Fenton Chester Arena has the lowest rental rates in Vermont and probably all of New England. If chosen for Coins for Community, we will be able to keep our rates low.

Operating an ice arena is expensive. We are committed to continue operating this rink and making it the most affordable Vermont facility for area skaters and turf users.

December – Nek Council on Aging

The NEK Council on Aging, founded in 1979, is dedicated to serving older and disabled residents of the Northeast Kingdom by providing the tools to age well. Our services extend across all three NEK counties (Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans) and support nutrition/meals, wellness programs, independent living/case management, caregiver support, State Health Insurance/SHIP/Medicare, transportation, fuel and utility assistance, technology support, options counseling, and information and referral (via the helpline). Every week, over 1,200 residents receive home delivered meals and congregate meals with the help of 14 senior meal sites throughout the NEK. The NEKCOA celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2024.

The planned use of proceeds from the Coins for Community program will be used to provide the financial support where federal and state funding falls short. These expenses can include, but are not limited to, nutrition support, fuel assistance, utility assistance, and transportation. Last year, donations helped to provide $30,000 in assistance for these needs.

2025

January – HOPE

February – Umbrella

Umbrella NEK’s mission is to cultivate a Northeast Kingdom where all people thrive free from abuse and oppression. We believe that oppression and the systemic abuse of power is at the root of domestic and sexual violence, stalking, teen dating violence, human trafficking, as well as violence related to gender or sexual orientation – which in total we characterize as gender based violence. We seek to embody a world where those who have been disempowered by poverty, discrimination and other obstacles are able to live peaceful, self-directed lives.

Our organization addresses a broad range of issues impacting women and families, including violence against women, early care and education for children, and gender equity. We do this through our Social Change programs, our Advocacy programs, our Family Based Service programs and our Economic Empowerment programs.

Umbrella’s programs seek to enhance the lives of everyone in our community by promoting safety, respect, and development and education throughout the lifespan. From improving access to quality early child care and education to providing advocacy, emergency shelter, crisis services, and community education to those affected by domestic and sexual violence and stalking.

The funds would help Umbrella elevate our programs and support our efforts in providing valuable resources, supportive vocational training and emergency crisis services to those affected by domestic and sexual violence and stalking. These funds will strengthen our efforts to end violence and help those impacted in our community.

March – Burke Senior Meal Site/ St. Johnsbury Food Shelf and meal site

The St. Johnsbury food shelf and meal sites provide free food and meals. We are a member of Kingdom Community Services in St. Johnsbury. Our Food Shelf is open on Tues and Thurs afternoons to provide a variety of food as well as government food to customers who need assistance with food for their family. We also have three meal sites in the area (Grace United Methodist Church, United Community Church and Universalist Unitarian Church) which provide hot meals on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) to members of our community.

Funds will be used for purchases of food so we can continue to support the community with free food and hot meals.