Month: June 2020

Orleans No. Essex Mask Project

Carrie Stahler Leave a comment

The CDC and VT Department of Health are recommending masks or cloth face coverings when we are out in public to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. To address this right here in our communities, the Orleans Northern Essex (ONE) Response and Recovery Team is working on a project to provide masks to everyone in our region who needs them.

Please click the button below if you need to request a mask please know we are working on getting this project off the ground. You should contact NEKCA in Newport to find out if they have masks available at this time. When we have masks available we will post a request form here.

Currently, we are seeking stitchers to help sew masks from kits. The ONE Team has been the recipient of a generous donation of mask kits (including fabric and elastic to make adult and child-sized masks) from Vermont Teddy Bear Company – we just need stitchers to sew them! If you sew or know folks who do and are able to volunteer some time to sew masks for our neighbors, please fill out the Volunteer Stitcher Form below or use this link, We would also love your help to share this message with your networks to help us find volunteer stitchers who can help!

If you have questions, please direct them to Carrie Stahler at Green Mountain United Way at cstahler@gmunitedway.org.


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Summer of LIVE UNITED

Carrie Stahler Leave a comment

While we were disappointed that we have had to postpone our Golf Classic until 2021, we are making the best of 2020 with a virtual event – Summer of LIVE UNITED!

There are three ways YOU can join us to LIVE UNITED that we’ll be sharing right here all summer long! To submit your entries, email them to liveunited@gmunitedway.org. At the end of August we will put everyone’s names in a hat and draw a winner – winners will receive a gift certificate to the local restaurant of your choice!

Option #1: GOLF!

Same sport, but definitely not the same tournament format we’ve always done. The Country Club of Barre is open for business and is welcoming golfers. They are currently offering one player per cart (but are shifting and changing as the State of Vermont offers new guidance, so check their website for the most up-to-date information.)

Go play a round then send us a selfie of you on the greens, your score, and, if it is possible for you, donate to Green Mountain United Way to help us continue our work supporting Vermonters through Health, Education, and Financial Stability initiatives.  This work has never been more important and your support makes it all possible.

Option #2: Show us how YOU LIVE UNITED

Send us a selfie of your own version of what LIVE UNITED means to you in your town, business, or community – it could be volunteering, caring for your grandchildren, spending a day at the lake. Whatever it is, please consider a donation to Green Mountain United Way so together we can pay it forward to Vermonters in need of support, resources, and care during this difficult time.

Option #3: Inspire all of us to LIVE UNITED

For those who are not selfie-inclined or who love to shine the light on those who inspire them, share a story of someone who has inspired you and make a donation to Green Mountain United Way in their name. Email us to tell us why they inspire you or send a short story of something inspirational they have done and we’ll share it right here!

Summer of LIVE UNITED Gallery

  • United Way’s Director of Community Engagement, Carrie Stahler, delivering seeds to her local school district so families can grow their own vegetables this summer!

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Our Response to Racism and Unrest

Carrie Stahler Leave a comment

Dear United Way supporters, friends, partners, and colleagues,

The tragic deaths of Black Americans George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many others have shocked and outraged people around Vermont, around the country, and around the world. Their deaths have been a representation of the insurmountable loss created through the undeniable systematic racism within our nation. As an agency whose mission is to fight for the well-being of all people, we have a responsibility to stand up and speak, because silence is not an option in the face of this tragedy. With that understanding, we want to be explicit in saying we honor and value the voices and experiences of those in our community who are Black, Indigenous, and persons of color. We stand with you and your fight for equality in our communities, our state, and our country. This tragedy has opened a space for conversations about inclusivity and opportunities for accountability. We heard the call when Governor Phil Scott, in creating Vermont’s Racial & Equity Task Force, said that each of us must take action to make change.

We also consider this a call to hold ourselves accountable, not just in words, but in action in order to create pathways to ensure that opportunity is accessible to all Vermonters. We understand that this work will require courage, discomfort, and an honest look at the ways we as a community are perpetuating or benefitting from these systems and the power we have to change them.

We pledge to do better. We urge you to join us. Together with our volunteers, our partner nonprofit agencies, all members of our communities, we are dedicated to making our Vermont UNITED. We invite you to join us in this work to create the equitable and inclusive communities that we have been called to create. The power one person holds is strong, the unified power of a diverse and responsive community is invincible.

With Gratitude,

The team at Green Mountain United Way

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