BENNINGTON — With the holidays just around the corner, Kate Ebbott, organizer and director of the Grateful Hearts Program, was working hard on Wednesday to prepare precooked, ready-to-eat, nutritionally dense, plant-forward meals for those in need in the Greater Bennington and Bennington County areas.

Ebbott was working alongside a number of kitchen helpers – volunteers, who shared the same vision of community care that she did.

The group called the gatherings Chop and Chats, and it was no wonder. Massive soup pots filled with fresh ingredients were cooling down and the women were preparing for the packaging phase.

The meals would be distributed to those in need in Bennington County, said Abbott.

Many would be available at the local food pantries, places like the Greater Bennington Com

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