This site was last updated 07/10/10
NEW NAME FOR HVOC
When the first Board of Directors selected the name of Hebron Village Outreach Center, the vision was to include a food pantry, youth programs, and other social services. As the first ten years have gone by, and grant funds, volunteers, and contributions have become more difficult to obtain, other missions seem unlikely. We also have learned that non-profits that do one thing well, not several at the expense of any, are the most successful.
Therefore, the Board has made the decision to focus on hunger as our mission. Having done that, and this being our ten-year anniversary, it seems like the ideal time to rename ourselves to reflect what we really are and to clear up continuing community confusion regarding what Hebron Village Outreach Center, Inc. actually does.
We are pleased to say that you now can call this organization the Hebron Food Pantry, Inc. Approvals from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have been received, announcement letters have been mailed, signage has been changed, and we are official. This is a great way to start our second decade of community service to the greater Attleboro area. We can hardly wait.
10 Year Anniversary
Can you believe it? It was ten years ago this year that the first bag of food was distributed by good people carrying out a mission of Centenary United Methodist Church. That mission was named the Hebron Village Outreach Center because it started in the former Hebron Village United Methodist Church, Attleboro.
When the immediate response displayed the very real need, the Hebron Board members looked at what other food pantries existed in Attleboro and who they served, identifying, correctly, working individuals and families as a truly underserved population. Thus was born the Working Person’s Food Pantry, followed later by the identification of another target population, and the creation of the Seniors’ Food Pantry.
In 2001, HVOC was incorporated as a non-profit organization, a 501(c)(3), allowing the board to write grant requests and fund the growing need for food assistance on the part of our target populations. Today, approximately one-third of our $64,795 per year budget is funded by individual and business contributions, and two-thirds comes from grants. We are proud to say that the City of Attleboro, UWGAT, and the L. G. Balfour Foundation, among others, are funders, proving that HVOC is a high-quality community service organization in the greater Attleboro area.
Almost two years ago, the food pantries moved to downtown Attleboro, into a renovated, permanent home at 11 Sanford Street—in the lower level of Centenary United Methodist Church. HVOC remains, however, an independent non-profit organization, managed by its own Board of Directors, staffed by one part-time Director, and over 60 volunteers. And, now we have a new name (see separate article).
We are especially proud of our record of service to those who are hungry or who experience food insecurity issues. Every week, 52 weeks a year, for ten years, we have been able to supply food to all, in our target populations, who came seeking assistance. We have never missed a week or turned any qualified person away. People use a shopping cart and select, from our displays, what their families will eat and would prefer. Almost every week, we can supply food from all five food groups.
We think that is quite a record. We are proud of it, although we long for the day when hunger is a thing of the past. Our plan for the future, however, is to continue fulfilling our mission for as long as the need exists. Won’t you join us today by becoming a member in support of this work?
Don Hanson
President of the Board