In 1994, Hunger Free Vermont began its Project Healthy Start grant program with the help of long-time donor and friend Marianne Metropoulos. This innovative program provides start-up funding and grants for new outreach initiatives to child care centers, school meal programs, summer food sites, and afterschool programs every year—to help them overcome barriers to nutrition program participation.

Over the years, child care centers, schools, and summer programs have used Project Healthy Start grants to purchase essential materials and equipment for their meal programs such as refrigerators, stoves, toasters, building materials, etc. Grants typically range between $200 and $600.

Success Stories

Although the dollar amount of individual Project Healthy Start grants may seem small, each one can make the difference between having a meal program or not. For example, Nicole LaBelle started the Cozy Cottage Preschool in Colchester for 20 children, all but one of whom was eligible for child care subsidies because of their families’ low income. After piecing together limited resources to build a kitchen, all she needed was $100 in plumbing parts and $500 to install a 220Volt line for the stove, but she had tapped every resource. A $600 Project Healthy Start grant cleared that last hurdle, and 20 more Vermont children were able to receive nutritious meals and snacks every weekday year-round. In addition, another Vermont small business is thriving and contributing to the community.

Marilyn Perron, Project Director of Orleans Central Supervisory Union’s Afterschool Programs, explains, “These meals are so important. In some cases, it will be the only balanced meal the children eat each day. Our finances are stretched to the limit,” says Marilyn, “Without the Project Healthy Start grant, we could not have offered this meal program.”

A high percentage of kids in Bradford, VT and surrounding towns are eligible for free or reduced school meals. In the past when summer rolled around, these kids lose access to this stable source of good nutrition. That is, until Corinna Magalhaes, Food Service Manager at Bradford Elementary, decided to become a Summer Food Sponsor for her region in 2011. Corinna believes strongly that “every child deserves to have a balanced, filling and healthy meal regardless of income, and whether school is in session or not,” so she applied for a Project Healthy Start Grant to make this dream a reality. She used the grant to purchase the necessary coolers, ice packs, and five gallon water jugs needed to transport food to the five sites and 250 kids she anticipated serving.

Thanks to Corinna’s sponsorship, cook Jennie Sweet’s hard work in the kitchen, the support of site managers and summer program directors, and the Project Health Start Grant, an enormous gap in the availability of summer nutrition for kids in Vermont has been filled.

How to Give to Project Healthy Start

To support the Project Healthy Start grant program that feeds Vermonters by making meal programs across the state possible, please mail in your donation with "Project Healthy Start"; in the memo. Or, donate online and include "Project Healthy Start" in the "Other notes/memo" field.

How to Apply

Summer Meals Providers: 
Hunger Free Vermont offers Project Healthy Start Grants of $500 to $1,000 to increase the number of children participating in summer programs, as well as to expand the number of meals that programs are able to serve each child. In summer 2011, Project Healthy Start Grants contributed to increasing the number of meals served to kids by 20,900, adding six new summer food sites, and increasing the number of days summer food was available by 60. We strive to build on this success in 2012.

Click here to download the application for a summer food Project Healthy Start grant (.pdf).

The deadline to apply for summer 2012 is May 11th, and winners will be notified by May 25th. If you have questions, contact Amanda Caron, Child Nutrition Advocate at Hunger Free Vermont at (802) 865-0255 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .