The Hilltown Food Bucks Program allows income eligible Hilltowners to double their spending power at local retailers and farmstands through a program funded by the federal CARES Act. Residents who are age 62 years or older, have a child enrolled in Free and Reduced School Meals, are a resident of low income housing, or are eligible for LIHEAP are especially encouraged to apply.
Participating Retailers:
Blandford Country Store – 98 Main Street
BlandfordChester Village Market – 191 Rt. 20, ChesterCorners Grocery Store – 2 Packard Common, Worthington
Chesterfield General Store – 432 Main Rd, Chesterfield
Old Creamery Co-op – 445 Berkshire Trial (Rt. 9), Cummington
Moltenbrey’s Market – 44 Worthington Rd, Huntington
Williamsburg Market – 12 Main St, Williamsburg
Participating Farm Stands:
Crabapple Farm –100 Bryant St, Chesterfield (Call ahead to use HIP
Cream of the Crop Farmstand – 601 Blandford Rd, Russell
Four Corners Farm – 27 Old North Rd, Worthington
Good Bunch Farm – 221 N River Rd, Shelburne
FallsHart Farm – 585 S Shirkshire Rd, Conway
Intervale Farm – 106 S Rd, Westhampton
Sawyer Farm – 19 Sawyer Rd, Worthington (online ordering & curbside pickup only)
Eligible participants can receive between $100-$125 food coupons per month for five months to be used at participating local stores and farms on non-taxable food items. The coupons double your spending power when you make a purchase, so a shopping basket worth $80 can be paid for with $40 of coupons and $40 of your own money.
To be eligible, you must live in one of the towns the Hilltown CDC serves through their Community Block Grant: Ashfield, Blandford, Chester, Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery, Plainfield, Williamsburg and Worthington. Residents who are age 62 years or older, have a child enrolled in Free and Reduced School Meals, are a resident of low income housing, or are eligible for LIHEAP are highly encouraged to apply.
Program funding is limited and will expire in May 2021. If you are interested in participating, please complete the one page application available at hilltowncdc.org/foodbucks. For questions on the Hilltown Food Bucks program, please contact Kate Bavelock, Director of Community Programs, at kateb@hilltowncdc.org or 413-296-4536 x 116.
Hilltown Community Development has partnered with local retailers and farm stands to set up Hilltown Food Bucks, a local effort to help Hilltown residents stretch their food dollars while supporting our critical local food businesses in a difficult time of social and economic stress. 170 households have participated in the program to date, receiving upwards of $50,000 in coupons to spend at local farmstands and grocery stores since July 2020.
“This is a win-win for our community,” says Kate Bavelock, Director of Community Programs at Hilltown CDC, “We know that keeping our dollars in the community is essential for the survival of our small farms and businesses, but staying closer to home also keeps us all safer. We are fortunate to have had a low incidence of COVID transmission in the Hilltowns, and making locally grown and available food more affordable allows us to protect each other while keeping good food on our families’ tables.”