Two well-known Vermont companies are teaming up to produce what they’re calling a "benefit batch" of gourmet ice cream that will be served up Friday, July 3, to raise money for the Vermont Foodbank.
Vermont Creamery provided creme fraiche that Lake Champlain Chocolates used to make two flavors—chocolate creme fraiche and maple creme fraiche— that will be sold Friday at LCC’s three retail stores in Burlington and Waterbury.
The treats will also be scooped in Burlington’s Oakledge and Waterfront Parks, out of LCC’s ice cream truck and cart.
All of the proceeds go to the Foodbank, which, because it gets food in such large quantities from grocery stores, manufacturers, farms, and other sources, can actually turn those $3 donations from each ice cream into five meals for food shelves to distribute to hungry Vermonters.
Therefore, Lake Champlain Chocolates and Vermont Creamery hope their partnership produces several thousand meals for families in need.
"We're going to continue to see the high levels of need we’ve been seeing," predicted John Sayles of the Vermont Foodbank, referring to food insecurity in the state.
By now, we've all seen the long lines of folks looking for help from the nation's food shelves and at federally-funded grocery pick-ups during the pandemic.
Sayles told NECN with this month’s expiration of the extra $600 the treasury’s adding to unemployment checks, and with businesses running out of their paycheck protection money, he expects an urgent need for food assistance will remain.
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"In government, they're talking about 'recovery phase,'" Sayles told NECN. "When it comes to food security, we're still in the 'response phase.' And I think we will be at least through the summer and into the fall. And we don't know what's coming."
"I'm sure there will be future collaborations, whether it's with Vermont Creamery or other Vermont companies," said Meghan Fitzpatrick of Lake Champlain Chocolates. "We've got a long road ahead of us, so any time we can give back and help, we will continue to do so over the next six months or a year."
Lake Champlain Chocolates and Vermont Creamery said with many traditional Fourth of July celebrations off because of the pandemic, they wanted to mark the holiday by using their businesses as a force for good.
According to Lake Champlain Chocolates, its ice cream truck will be in Waterfront Park from 11 a.m. to sunset Friday, and its ice cream cart will be Oakledge Park, also from 11 a.m. to sunset.
