VEC’s Community Fund Continues to Support Basic, Local Needs

Johnson, VT - The latest round of grants by the Vermont Electric Co-op continues to support the fundamental needs across the VEC region: food security, warmth and health.

Cambridge Cares, one of the recent grant recipients, was awarded funds to help with immediate financial needs of people in need in the Cambridge area. The organization has delivered firewood, paid energy bills, provided medical transportation, helped with car repairs, registrations and inspections, and purchased – or help purchase – appliances.

“We are a short-term relief organization, a safety net,” said Beth Cole, the coordinator of Cambridge Cares.

Mt. Mansfield Villages, a social network providing members with the support they need to stay in their homes while getting older, also received funds in the latest grant round.

“We help members remain active, socially-connected, and independent for as long as possible by linking volunteers to neighbors who need services,” said board member Kelly Humphrey. The Community Fund will help fund member scholarships and social events throughout the year, she said.

A third grant recipient, Salvation Farms of Morrisville (board and staff members pictured above) gleans surplus food from farms for distribution. In 2025 Salvation Farms harvested more than 72,000 pounds of surplus food from more than 40 farms and distributed it through more than 70 community sites. Based on partner surveys, the group estimates that these efforts reach more than 10,000 eaters each year.

The group’s work is concentrated in highly rural areas of the Northeast Kingdom and Lamoille Valley.

“Salvation Farms remains focused on a simple but essential goal: ensuring all Vermonters are fed while helping farms thrive,” said Executive Director Kelly Dolan.

Other recent recipients of grants were:

• American Legion Jay Peak Post #28 (for free community dinners and other programs)
• AWARE (for prevention of child sexual abuse)
• Beat the Winter Blues (to help grant wishes for children suffering from life threatening diseases.)
• Eli Goss Memorial Fund (for an ice fishing tournament that supports local student scholarships)
• Hardwick Area Food Pantry (to support food boxes for migrant farm workers in the Northeast Kingdom)
• Highland Center for the Arts (for the FORT, an interactive world made of cardboard)
• Montgomery Center for the Arts (to upgrade an electrical panel and install an Accessible Bathroom)
• North Country Supervisory Union (to support the annual science and engineering fair.)
• Starksboro Cooperative Preschool (to support the purchase of six storm windows for the Starksboro Village Meeting House)
• VT Council on Rural Development (for Vermont Community Leadership Network, or VCLN.)
• VT Maple Festival (to support children’s entertainment during the days of the Vermont Maple Festival)
• Village of Derby Line (to support the purchase of flags to be mounted on utility poles to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence).

About the VEC Community Fund

Since it made its first donation in 2015, the VEC Community Fund has made over 280 separate grants of up to $1,000 each to non-profit organizations in the VEC region totaling just over $200,000. The fund is supported by about 2,500 co-op members who voluntarily round up their electric bills to the nearest dollar, donate their member capital, or make one-time donations. The funds are entirely separate from money collected by VEC for electricity sales.