The overall mission of the Abenaki Food Pantry is to help fight food insecurity in our tribal community and in the surrounding neighbor communities. In our Native American/Indigenous tradition we are taught to care for our community- our friends, family and neighbors - whether they are members of our tribe or not. We share what we can as best we can. Being human means being there to provide assistance, to lend a caring hand in times of need when a little bit of assistance can go a long way.The Abenaki Food Pantry is housed in the tribal headquarters of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, whose members are centered in Franklin County, Vermont. The pantry operates through the tribe's 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Maquam Bay of Missisquoi, whose mission is to sustain and nourish our Indigenous cultural knowledge, to protect our places of historical, ecological and spiritual significance, and to strengthen the overall health and wellness of our people and community. There is no greater impact on the well-being and long term health outcomes of our people than their ability to consistently have enough nutritious food to eat. But as far back as 2015- when we first moved the food pantry to our headquarters- we were seeing an increasing number of our members, especially am In seeking the capacity to meet the nutrition needs of as many of our struggling people and neighbors as possible, we are on the best possible course to fulfill our mission by strengthening them and improving their health.