Edi Abeneto of Feeding Chittenden on fighting hunger and breaking down cultural barriers

The Deeper Dig

Edi Abeneto is food shelf supervisor at Feeding Chittenden, a Burlington-based nonprofit that focuses on hunger relief and serves more than 12,000 people every year.

Abeneto has worked at the organization for more than 17 years. He speaks six languages, and among other duties, he facilitates communication and provides interpretation for visitors from a wide range of backgrounds.

Over time, he said he’s built up trust with visitors that help him connect them to whatever help they need.

“I was able to break down the barriers to food access, you know, and while building trust and communication with the new Americans,” Abeneto said. “So every time they see me here, I can say, be more comfortable because I speak the languages, you know, I give them more information about what we're doing.

Host Sam Gale Rosen talked to Abeneto about some of what his work involves.