Pelham Cares Continues

Press release from Pelham Cares:

Oct. 5, 2020

The Junior League of Pelham is excited to announce the continuation of the Pelham Cares: Neighbor to Neighbor campaign. Our aim is to identify and meaningfully reach families in need in our local community, particularly those families disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide assistance in the form of food, household needs, bill payments, and other critical necessities. Please visit our new website, lovepelham.com, for more information.

The campaign started in March of 2020 as a partnership among the Junior League of Pelham, the Pelham Civic Association, the Pelham Chamber of Commerce, and Pelham Together, to address the urgent needs of our local businesses and the crisis at healthcare centers. It is in moments like these that we have seen how strong our community is in coming to one another’s aid. We directed the over $40,000 raised into purchases of meals and essentials from Pelham community businesses and delivered them directly to those impacted by and working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While that immediate crisis has abated, the continued instability and uncertainty has pushed families just getting by into a precarious state, and launched those already in a precarious state into crisis. The focus of this renewed Pelham Cares effort is to identify families in great need and connect them to families who have the ability to help. In doing so, we aim to build on the human relationships that form the foundation of a more vibrant, engaged and socially aware community in the future.

The Junior League of Pelham has connected with multiple local social services and other community-based organizations that provide welfare to many populations in and around Pelham. These organizations have identified families that are in need of assistance, and those families are listed on our website. From there, Pelham community members can contribute to a one-time specific need or provide ongoing support, either anonymously or directly (via Junior League volunteers). We do not permit cash donations - solely purchases on behalf of the family (e.g. groceries, clothing, household needs), paying bills on behalf of the family, and/or contributing gift cards.

Challenges can befall a person, a family, or a neighborhood at any time. Pelham Cares is a way to extend a hand and to deepen and diversify relationships among residents of Pelham and its neighboring communities.

This press release was produced by Pelham Cares. The views expressed here are the author's own.