Monthly Archives: June 2020

Working with the Community Housing Improvement Project

Hi all –

I hope you are well and enjoying the good (dry) weather.  If you’re like me, some rain would be great for the gardens!

We have a wonderful opportunity to work with the non-profit Community Housing Improvement Project (CHIP Inc., not the ones that do central heating systems) to provide support for some of our residents in need.  CHIP has worked on several projects a year in Whitefield and their director Brittany Gill contacted me to find out if Whitefield Cares! could find volunteers to work with them this year.  CHIP does home repair projects and historically has gathered volunteers in September for their Community Cares day in September but will be unable to organize the effort this year.  Residents in central and eastern Lincoln County will call CHIP’s number and ask for support on needed home improvements and CHIP figures out how to get the job done.  CHIP provides the funding for materials and can provide contracting for some services if the situation requires it, and the community provides the organization of the project and the labor.

For this year, our own George Fergusson has agreed to help with organizing our work force.  With this post, I am looking for volunteers to work with George on projects in Town.  Brittany described 5 possible projects, including 2 trailer roofs needing structural repair, 1 building needing tar to fix leaks, a leaky front door that needs replacing, and a disabled veteran who needs a variety of repairs on his house.  If we can gather people to do the work, Brittany will reach out to the homeowners to see if they are willing to work with Whitefield Cares! to get the jobs done.  George is reaching out to his contacts to see who would be willing to help and if you know someone who might be handy and/or strong, please let them know about this opportunity and have them get in touch with me!

I think this is exactly the kind of contact Whitefield Cares! needs to launch into creating real results on the ground for the residents of Whitefield.  CHIP has been working on the Bristol peninsula for years and CHIP has a dedicated group of volunteers who come together to work on projects on the peninsula which just sounds terrific.  Brittany Gill is eager to engage our group and is just waiting for our reply.  Let me know if you or someone you know can lend a hand and let’s build Whitefield Cares! into a community effort that get results on the ground!

 

 

 

 

Are you willing to deliver a food bank box?

Hi all –

I hope this post finds you well and busily working in the garden and/or enjoying the outdoors.  I haven’t touched base in a while but it does seem that requests for help are increasing a little, likely because this pandemic has stretched on for a while and is likely to go on for quite a bit longer.  I hope you will be able to keep your interest in helping your community members strong!

I’ve had a request to find volunteers willing to deliver a food box to a woman in Pittston.  That is not Whitefield but is close by and a neighbor of ours nonetheless!  She is elderly, lives alone without a car, has some difficulty moving around and is not able to get enough food to sustain her.

My request is this – would you be willing to come to the food bank twice a month to pick a box of food that the volunteers will prepare and deliver it to her house?  The food bank volunteers are so well organized that all you need to do is drive up to the door at St. Denis church and tell them you are delivering the box for this woman (I will tell you the name if you are willing to help!), they will put the box in your trunk, you drive to the woman’s house and drop it off at the door.  No contact at all which we’re all getting used to!

The woman lives off the Kelly Road in Pittston so it’s not far away.  I’m hoping that if we get several volunteers then one person could do two weeks and another could deliver on the other two weeks, something like that.  The food bank is open the first Friday of the month (so that’s the 5th this month, and the first delivery would be on this Friday), then the food bank is open on subsequent Saturdays for the rest of the month, open 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM.

Please let me know if you are willing to help out (email through Whitefield Cares!, email lisehanners@gmail.com, or call me at 207-656-2033) and I will put you in touch with Janet Ober from the food bank so she can provide additional details.  And thank you for helping with Whitefield Cares!

Best,

Lise Hanners