The United Way of Northwest Vermont’s new coronavirus relief fund got a major boost Thursday thanks to four major donors courted by Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger.
The mayor was able to round up $85,000 for the fund, which will help organizations that support families and communities impacted by COVID-19.
The first recipient is the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity and, specifically, Feeding Chittenden, one of three food shelves operated by CVOEO that distributes nearly 2 million pounds of food every year.
The lead donors include the Pomerleau family of Vermont real estate and philanthropy fame; Roxanne and Russ Scully, developer of the Hula tech campus and Burlington Surf Club founder; and Laura and David Stiller, son of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters founder Robert Stiller. Each donated $25,000.
An additional $10,000 came from Spruce Mortgage, whose founder and CEO is Gene Richards, whom Weinberger appointed director of aviation at Burlington International Airport in 2013.
“This is a challenging time to be giving money when there’s so much financial uncertainty and so much turmoil happening in the world,” Weinberger said during a virtual press conference Thursday. “It is reassuring to me … that these philanthropic leaders for our community have come through for the community once again.”
The United Way launched the fund this month in collaboration with the city of Burlington and other community partners with a goal to raise $125,000. As of Thursday evening, 56 donors had raised more than $107,000.
Feeding Chittenden director Rob Meehan said the food shelf has seen a 30 percent increase in demand as more Vermonters have lost jobs in recent weeks. Many people are visiting for the first time, he said.
Food shelf staff are now delivering food to homes and are operating a curbside pickup for meals and groceries. Employees of Feeding Chittenden’s cooking academy have fanned out to bring 400 meals a day to four area emergency shelters, Meehan said.
“It’s heartwarming beyond recognition, but it’s also vital and it’s a critical need in this moment,” he said.
CVOEO executive director Jan Demers said the nonprofit’s other programs have also pivoted to help people in need. Many workshops are now conducted via webinar, including those for small businesses and renters, she said.
CVOEO is also helping establish a “congregate recovery center” where COVID-19 patients can receive medical and mental health care, Demers said. She didn’t disclose the location but said it could be operational within a week.
Weinberger cheered this development, saying Chittenden County needs an isolation center “to properly fight this virus, to properly contain its spread and to get the right care to people suffering from the virus in the days ahead.”
Weinberger also said the city continues to respond to Gov. Phil Scott’s stay-at-home order that went into effect Wednesday evening. The mayor announced Thursday that construction projects in the city, both public and private, will cease unless they directly support COVID-19 emergency response efforts.
Stopped projects include work on City Hall Park, the Moran plant and the already-stalled CityPlace Burlington development. Weinberger is scheduled to talk with representatives of that project’s owner, Brookfield Asset Management, on Thursday.
“I don’t know right now what the impact is or if there’s any impact at all,” he said.
The mayor also announced that Burlington is slated to receive $450,000 in Community Development Block Grants as part of Vermont’s share of the $2 trillion relief package approved by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday night.
Burlington will funnel that money into loan and grant programs for businesses that employ low- and moderate-wage workers, according to Luke McGowan, director of the city’s Community and Economic Development Office.
The city now has “the federal guarantee of the support we need to get that money back into the community,” McGowan said.
Weinberger said the relief is welcome, but he expects that the city, and the nation, will need more in the days and weeks ahead.
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It dawns on me now that Weinberger’s isolation bubble has nothing to do with the coronavirus.
Bravo Mayor, bravo!
Not to cast shade on valuable work people are doing but isn’t this list of donors the mayor courted just a few of the larger contributors from his campaign donation list?
“Not to cast shade on valuable work people are doing but isn’t this list of donors the mayor courted just a few of the larger contributors from his campaign donation list?”
And? If it’s true so what?
Seems disingenuous right down to taking a screenshot of your own heroics and sending it off to the local publication.
Just so people are aware of how funding works at United Way: even though you make a designated contribution to another non-profit, for example CVOEO/Feeding Chittenden, the United Way takes a significant cut of that contribution like a finders fee. Approximately 20% if not more depending on how significant (amount) the contribution is. That percentage covers the transaction fee or rather a facilitation fee of the money being redistributed to the designated non-profit. A middle man essentially so please just directly contribute to the non-profit that you support and not the United Way.
Also, seems pretty unethical for the Mayor to use his platform to directly associate himself with a singular non-profit that stands to make a “profit” through these large contributions. Yes, it will be redistributed but why not use his voice to urge us to make contributions to a number of different non-profits?
I do say thank you to these donors. Your contributions will make a difference but why not spread the literal wealth with the these non-profits individually?
This is a response to the idea that local United Way’s make a profit on donations.
First 100% of all funds given to the COVID-19 United Response Fund are being distributed to the community for this purpose. No overhead.
Second – that is NOT how our local United Way’s work at any time of year. We don’t make a profit, we are a local non-profit organization that leverages significant additional resources for our community as well as providing direct service through a number of our own programs. Last year alone for every dollar donated we put $1.71 back into the community. We are locally run independent non-profit powered by residents (staff, volunteers and donors) in our own community and overseen by volunteers from our own community. – Jesse Bridges, CEO of United Way of Northwest Vermont. Anyone can email me directly jesse at unitedwaynwvt.org to discuss how our funding works and what programs and issues we are supporting, working on now and throughout the year. Unitedwaynwvt.org
@ Angry woman of color- Jesse bridges, the director of United Way has already publicly stated that 100% of these donations will go towards relief efforts where needed. NO money of these donations will be used for administrative fees.
So this is the state of people here in Burlington and Chittenden county. That when the mayor is putting out information for people to help the community ignorant people have to take the low ad bash the efforts. YOU people should be ashamed. This isn’t what humanity is about. Instead of bashing help, step up and do something productive for your community and neighbors.
Jesse Bridges is a solid community asset. What the United Way has done and keeps it going is invaluable to this community.
Just because the rooster crows at dawn doesn’t mean he makes the sun come up.
But boy-o- boy can this rooster crow.!
Just because the goose files obstructionist lawsuits doesn’t mean his droppings are a public service. But boy can he honk.
I see we’ve rebranded the “all about optics” shtick into a faux-folksy (fauxksy?) flavor. What is this Pavlovian need to constantly denigrate his motives, without fail, no matter the context?
The mayor of Burlington and the governor of VT have shown a level of seriousness and commitment to citizens’ wellbeing that has been sorely lacking elsewhere during this pandemic. They’re being leaders. I can quibble with their actions, I can have concerns about the impacts, but I don’t question their intent. They’ve consistently tried to do the right thing, and their sincerity – if not their actions – is unimpeachable in this matter.
We should discuss if we’re overreacting or should do more, if we’ve forgotten anyone or are giving too much to those who don’t need it, or any number of myriad questions this crisis has brought up. Those are all valuable debates.
Instead, the usual suspects have chosen to once again interject their disdain for the man into the conversation. It looks embarrassingly petty and small-minded. What next? I can’t wait to hear how this is all because of “Don the Con”, and the F-35’s, and whatever other “white whale” obsessions are constantly infecting the comments.
Please, do better. You can start by making a donation.