Update on what the Stowe C19 Response Team has done

We would like to provide details of what our community has accomplished working together over the past few months.

On March 17, the Stowe C19 Response Team had its first meeting. With a call to action, we soon had 148 volunteers signed up to help. We had a small army of people who sew, and they made and distributed 1,450 face masks to health care professionals, first responders and residents.

In addition, we helped Stowe Community Church distribute over 150 boxes filled to the brim with groceries to those in need.

We provided 48 seniors with shopping assistance, and 11 residents continue to receive weekly check-in calls.

We worked with Copley Woodlands’ onsite staff and infection prevention at Copley Hospital to help design, develop and produce a four-times-a-week newsletter filled with information regarding COVID-19 safety protocols and facility updates, as well as some fun facts and jokes to add some levity, for the 42 Woodlands residents.

On March 31, the Stowe C19 General Relief Fund was created to further address our town’s needs arising from COVID-19. The fund is being used to ensure our community is food-secure and well nourished, and a multifaceted approach has been taken to accomplish this goal. Thanks to the generosity of so many in our town and those who no longer live here but feel equally as connected, the fund has raised over $33,000.

We would like to extend a special thanks to Danny Satterthwaite, Hope Sullivan and all the musicians who participated in Stowe Vibrancy’s Thursday Night Music Nights for their personal fundraising efforts that helped grow the fund.

Following is a breakdown of the Stowe C19 General Relief Fund’s spending to date:

• $12,300 has been spent providing weekly grocery assistance to 30 households, benefiting over 70 residents, in Stowe. These households received between $50 and $100 per week, depending on size of household, for a range of between one to 10 weeks, depending on length of need. We heard from many recipients about how this service created a bridge through a tumultuous time and how much they appreciated having the support of the community.

• $4,200 was spent on a two-week program offering $20 in Mansfield Dairy products to all those who worked in Stowe and were recently furloughed or laid off as a direct result of COVID-19’s impact. United Way found this program so beneficial that it decided to cover the cost for another two weeks, extending the offer to all those who worked in Lamoille County. In total, a full month of supplemental grocery assistance was provided to employees who had been furloughed or laid off as a result of COVID-19.

• $6,000 was contributed to Skinny Pancake’s ShiftMeals initiative. Thanks to this collaboration, we distributed over 2,300 free meals in Stowe; many of those meals went directly to families with students utilizing the free lunch program through our schools. We helped coordinate efforts in Morrisville, and Skinny Pancake provided an additional 2,300 free meals to the residents and families there.

• $1,000 has been allocated for an Essential Needs Fund to help assist with one-time essential needs such as medicine, health care, fuel assistance and transportation costs. This fund has so far been utilized to help with much-needed health care and fuel that the recipients would have tried to do without, but for having access to this fund.

The fund is in a strong position with $9,500 left to meet our town’s long-term needs. While we anticipate a reduction in needed assistance during the summer, with residents benefitting from businesses opening and federal payments coming in, we are planning for an increase in need toward the end of the summer into the fall, when rent forbearance and the additional $600 weekly federal unemployment payments end on or before Dec. 31 and/or if a second wave of COVID-19 occurs. Whatever happens next, we are prepared and committed to ensuring that our community is food secure.

We are grateful to be part of such a generous and proactive community. Thank you for all that you’ve done to help keep our town strong as we continue to navigate through this unprecedented time.

Stowe C19 Response Team

Heidi Scheuermann, Rachel Vandenberg, Margery Adams, Leslie Anderson, Mary Evslin, Beth Gadbois, Dot Hayden, Erica Loomis, Nancy Small

Stowe C19 General Relief Fund Committee

Leigh Pelletier, Billy Adams, Leslie Anderson, Jeff Clarke, Aimee Green, Elise Mckenna