 Megan Humphrey, thank you so much for joining us today. You are our fearless leader of hands, which is a huge community support for seniors. And you have worked with others to come up with a response through what I would call the special period of COVID-19. Tell us about the response, the needs that you're seeing and what you're doing. Yeah, I think we're all in a very unstable world right now and it all feels a little bit shaky. So I think everyone has gone through different phases of responding with fear and concern. And then there's also, lots of us go to this level of, okay, now what can we do? So there's some action and some feeling of, I think a little bit of its control, trying to control things a little bit. And then it's also looking and saying, how can we help other people in this community? And I think, I don't know if it's true everywhere else, but I think Vermonters are just remarkable. And I think that we are all banding together and trying to come up with things. So pretty quickly, Hans partnered with the Heineberg Community Senior Center with Beth Hammond there and tried to get some really direct programs to folks. Hans supports vulnerable seniors and our mission is to get them food. So we are trying to get food to seniors who are now isolated at home and they are receiving fewer and fewer services at home because everyone's concerned about sharing the virus. So we decided to implement a program where we are matching volunteers with, and sort of a buddy program with seniors who are isolated at home. And so these buddies are not going to be, in our typical fashion, we love people to go in and sit down and chat and everything and it's not like that at all. It's really getting necessary items and services to seniors in their homes. In some cases, it might just be a phone call check-in because a senior would feel as though at least someone knows that I'm here and they're seeing how I am every day or every week or something like that. And then it also goes to picking up groceries and delivering them if there's something at the pharmacy that needs to be picked up. So we're vetting the volunteers on one side and then matching them, hopefully with people right in their neighborhood. Hopefully these relationships and friendships will continue beyond this scary time as well. So that's what we're doing. So are you working first with the Heinenberg Center? Is that's the primary focus or other parts of Chittenden County? We're starting with Heineberg and that's the Greater Burlington area. They have folks in Colchester and Milton. We can certainly tuck people in if they're in different communities but we're trying to start small enough so that we can manage it. And as you can imagine, this is Vermont. The response from the volunteer side of it has been remarkable, almost overwhelming in a good way. And so we're really asking people at this point to start by thinking about their neighborhoods. You may have a senior that's right next door to you. They might be alone or they have family who live far away and those are the folks we're really trying to make sure we're helping them out. So it's thinking outside the box a little bit of the communities. We're certainly working in senior housing as well but it's thinking about someone and even there people can be isolated in senior housing. They may be in an apartment all by themselves without friends and family near. And from the other side, the seniors are feeling it's really scary to be isolated like that physically and emotionally isolated from other people. So on top of getting them basic needs like paper towels and food, we're also just trying to connect with them so they feel like they're being supported. And what kind of support are you getting from vendors and stores where these supplies would come from? Yeah, it's a great question. And again, this community has been really generous. Restaurants are really stepping forward. Even before they were being asked to close, we were already getting offers. August 1st has stepped up and barrio bakery, there are lots of folks. And now that restaurants are closing, then they have a lot of food. And in some cases, August 1st is going to be making us chicken soup because they have chicken. So in a lot of cases, they have perishables that could be made into a food product that will be just great for us. We're not the only ones doing this. There are lots of other organizations and agencies that the food shelf is still trying to get food out to people. So there are a lot of people all joining together in this. And I know there are these basic questions that everyone's being asked about their health before they go into someone's home, but are folks actually going into people's homes or just dropping off? They're just dropping off. So we're trying to be very, very careful about this. Even if a senior says, oh, please come in and sit down, we are absolutely not, we are not going into anyone's home. So we're asking volunteers to make sure their hands are sanitized, that they are doing as much as they can. And then leaving food outside, either calling the senior ahead or knocking on the door or something like that, but nobody is going inside. They're not shaking hands with seniors. We are really, really trying to maintain very safe distance and keep everybody healthy. That's our goal. Do you see that existing distribution systems like, for example, Meals on Wheels might be expanded during this period? Have you heard about that? Yes, that's a great question. Also, they are expanding. So even the Meals on Wheels that might be delivering weekly to some organization like Heineberg Senior Center, now they'll be there five days a week. So the age well system and Meals on Wheels is definitely expanding at this point. And again, a lot of these seniors were gathering in senior centers to have meals and now they have to be at their homes. So we've got to get food to them where they are. So at the risk of, I don't want you to be overwhelmed by response, how would you direct people who really want to help? Where would you suggest that they call your project or other projects? Yes, the Heineberg Senior Center they, on their website, they have a link and it's support buddies is the name of it. And so they can go to that link. And I guess there has been some frustration because it seems as though it's not going through. People are getting an error message, but if you just refresh the page, I think we're just getting a little overwhelmed, that's all, but it's there. And people can sign either seniors up for it right there on that link or volunteers. And again, we're especially looking for the seniors to help them. And we also just need financial donations because we need to cover the cost of, I've already put in a big grocery order and for some toiletries and supplies. So we're just trying to cover the cost of the supplies that were now, that was not in our budget. It's a whole new world right now. So that would also be helpful. And the hands website is handsbt.org. And so we have information about all of this. Megan, thank you so much for the work and being on the frontline. And please extend our gratitude to the volunteers and we'll help get the word out on our new series which you are our first person. So thank you so much. That's great. Thank you so much. Thank you and thank you on your side because there's a lot of misinformation going out and everything. And this just helps, you're helping to tie the community together and connect other people. So thank you very much. Go for it. All right. Thanks, Megan. Thank you. Bye-bye. Bye.