February Community Partner: The Upper Valley Haven

added 01/03/12

The Upper Valley Haven was started in 1980 by five clergy members and parishioners of St. Paul’s and St. James’ Episcopal Churches in White River Junction and Woodstock, Vermont. A food shelf and clothing room was added in 1983. That year the food shelf served 327 families.

In May 2004, the Haven Family Shelter, Food Shelf, and Clothing Room moved into a new building on Hartford Avenue in White River Junction. Today the Haven’s food shelf serves more than twice as many families every month than it served per year in the early 1980s. Haven outreach staff also report that an estimated 50 people a night are homeless in the Upper Valley—living in the woods, in tents, in their cars, or on the couches of family or friends.

Even larger numbers are those of the working poor who, despite holding jobs, struggle to provide the basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter.

How You Can Help

  • Make a donation to The Haven when you shop at any Co-op location during the month of February and support the Haven Food Drive in the Hanover store.
  • Donate clean, functional, and seasonally appropriate clothing to The Haven at 713 Hartford Avenue, White River Junction, Vermont.
  • Call The Upper Valley Haven at (802) 295-6500 to learn about volunteer opportunities, or visit www.uppervalleyhaven.org.

Be a Co-op Community Partner!

Started in 2002, the Co-op Community Partner program has given tens of thousands of dollars to local non-profits over the years and has proven so successful that it has created a waiting list of worthy organizations spreading into 2016.

Our Community Partner program offers an opportunity for Co-op shoppers to donate at the registers to a local non-profit organization each month. Ninety percent of all donations go directly to the Partner of the Month. Ten percent goes to the Hanover Cooperative Community Fund, the Co-op’s charitable foundation

Want to become a Co-op Community Partner?
Email comment@coopfoodstore.com or call Ken Davis at 603-640-6544.

Members, answer our question of the week!