BRATTLEBORO — An effort has launched to organize volunteers and businesses to prepare meals for the victims of a devastating fire last week.
With the help and cooperation of the Vermont and New Hampshire Upper Valley chapter of the American Red Cross, Bethany Thies has begun to coordinate the disparate efforts of people wanting to help those who have been without a home since the three-alarm fire tore through the apartment house at 214 Elliot St.
Thies, who began delivering meals on Monday to the hotel where all the fire victims have been staying, credited Bruce Pollock, the Red Cross's deputy chief response officer, for reaching out to the families. “He said that five families immediately said they were interested in meals,” Thies said.
She has set up an account on the Meal Train website (www.mealtrain.com) for people to sign up, or those who are not Internet junkies can also contact her at 310-383-1593 for further information and to volunteer.
Approximately 20 volunteers had adopted a meal. Each meal donation will feed a family of four whose alternative would be to spend money they don't have “on $50 dinners at Friendly's,” she said.
“Easy daily menus” will make it as simple as possible for people to participate. “The thought is that these items can be store-bought or homemade,” Thies said. “Every little bit helps."
In addition to donations of food, she also said, contributions of bottled water, juice boxes, and milk are needed, as are fresh, sliced vegetables and dessert items.
Meals should be prepared using disposable foil containers and dropped off at the Boys and Girls Club by 4:30 p.m. Thies is seeking six donations of food per day from people looking to feed the seven participating families.
Thies is also seeking donations from businesses. Multiple restaurants have stepped up to provide full or partial meals on the schedule, she said.
Paying it forward
For Thies, the idea to help the families was inspired by an outpouring of community support that she and her own family experienced in 2011.
Thies, her husband Bob, and their four young children found their Willow Street property inundated with 5 feet of water from Tropical Storm Irene. “We didn't lose our home, and we were very aware that so many people had it so much worse,” she said.
Yet they did lose a car, a garage washed away, and “our whole yard was a disaster,” she said.
On returning from their three-day hotel stay, the Thieses found that “people were just here with shovels and wheelbarrows."
And people also brought food to the grateful family.
“I was so touched by this community,” she said. “They really stepped up for us."
As a result, Thies and her family have taken on the effort.
“I feel an intense need to pay it forward,” she said. “This one is ours.”