Senator Patrick Leahy has delivered good Thanksgiving Week news to the Vermont Foodbank: Congress has passed and President Bush soon will sign a bill that includes $200,000 to help complete financing for the Vermont Foodbank’s new facility in Barre that replaces their building that was devastated by the great ice storm of 1999.

The ice storm in March 1999 collapsed the old building’s roof. Already outgrowing the space to meet the needs of the nearly 109,000 Vermonters that they serve each year, the Vermont Foodbank began plans to build a new facility.

In February of this year they moved into the new building – an impressive facility in the Wilson Industrial Park that will allow the Vermont Foodbank’s staff and volunteers to quadruple the amount of food they can process. Bulk products like frozen meats, vegetables and dry goods that had to be turned down for lack of storage space can now be accepted. Perishable items such as those donated by restaurants, caterers and educational institutions can now be used rather than turned away.

These funds are the final piece of financing the Foodbank needs to finish the building without assuming a significant amount of debt and to finalize the operations for its perishable-foods kitchen.

Leahy included the funding provision in the annual budget bill for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The final bill passed the Senate Nov. 8, and Leahy said the President will sign it within days. Leahy is a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and of its VA-HUD Subcommittee, which wrote the Senate’s version of the bill.

"We cannot thank Senator Leahy, his staff, and America's Second Harvest enough for making this happen," said Foodbank CEO, Deborah Flateman. "This appropriation allows us to focus on what we do best – working towards ending hunger in Vermont."

"This season it is easier – and more important -- to count our blessings," said Leahy. "One of the many things Vermonters are thankful for is the Vermont Foodbank and its goal of making sure that no family anywhere in our state goes hungry. This facility will help the Foodbank’s staff and volunteers help others. It moves us closer to that goal."