WILLISTON, Vt. — Yankee Farm Credit and Denver-based CoBank have joined forces to donate $10,000 to two local charitable organizations: Willing Hands and Salvation Farms.
Both Yankee Farm Credit and CoBank are part of the Farm Credit System that supports rural communities and agriculture throughout the United States. The donations, which were split between the two charities, were made through CoBank’s annual Sharing Success program, which matches contributions made by the Bank’s customers to the charitable organizations of their choice. More than $30 million has been distributed through the
Michael Moloney, left, Assistant Vice President of Financial Services at Yankee Farm Credit, presents Willing Hands Executive Director Gabe Zoerheide a $5,000 donation from Yankee and CoBank, another institution within the Farm Credit system. (Courtesy Photo)fund since 2012 to a variety of non-profits, such as volunteer fire departments, hunger-relief organizations and schools.
“Yankee Farm Credit understands that many Americans are making difficult tradeoffs, so it’s a true honor for us to support two organizations that do so much to reach members of our community in need of fresh, nutritious food,” said Yankee Farm Credit Chief Financial Officer Pam Simek.
Willing Hands is a food donation organization operating throughout the Upper Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire. Volunteers collect donated food from area businesses that might otherwise go to waste and deliver it to local human services organizations for distribution to local residents. Willing Hands also partners with those organizations to offer nutrition counseling to food recipients. To learn more about the organization, visitwww.willinghands.org.
“Willing Hands is deeply grateful for the donation from Yankee Farm Credit through the Sharing Success program,” said Executive Director Gabe Zoerheide. “This donation will allow Willing Hands to partner with more local farmers and deliver more fresh, healthy food to our neighbors in need. With the support of thoughtful generous donors such as Yankee Farm Credit, Willing is able to deliver fresh, healthy food to nearly 5,000 people each week free of charge, making a deep impact on hunger in our community.”
Salvation Farms reduces on-farm food loss through its Vermont Commodities Program, which cleans, packs and processes large volumes of produce into manageable quantities for local distribution. For more information about the organization, visit www.salvationfarms.org.
“Yankee Farm Credit has been a dedicated supporter of Salvation Farms’ work, but this year’s generous contribution and matching gift signals their sincere support for all of Salvation Farms efforts – reducing food loss on farms, helping more Vermont residents eat Vermont-raised foods and engaging our neighbors in the important act of re-localizing our food system,” said Salvation Farms Executive Director Theresa Snow. “We’re extremely thankful for the support of Yankee Farm Credit as we work to help Vermont farms feed more people in our communities.”
About CoBank
CoBank is a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. A proud member of the Farm Credit System, the bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations, including Yankee Farm Credit, which in turn serve farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. For more information about CoBank, visit the bank’s website at www.cobank.com.
About Yankee Farm Credit
Yankee Farm Credit is a member-owned cooperative that supports rural communities and agriculture with reliable, consistent credit and financial services, today and tomorrow. Yankee is an agricultural credit association (ACA) within the national Farm Credit System. Yankee serves all of Vermont, four counties in New Hampshire (Cheshire, Coos, Grafton and Sullivan) and two counties in New York (Clinton and Essex). Visit us at www.yankeefarmcredit.com.
–Yankee Farm Credit
CoBank
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