Photo By Alexander Rector | NORWICH, NY – New York Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to Delta Company, 2nd...... read more read more
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NORWICH, N.Y.--New York Army National Guard Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment’s Delta Company are ensuring that senior citizens in one of New York’s most rural areas, trapped inside by the COVID-19 pandemic, are getting meals they need.
Between April 21 and April 24, ten Soldiers, who drill at the New York State Armory in Ithaca, delivered 3,200 meals in Chenango County for the Chenango County Area Agency on Aging.
The mission will continue again on May 5.
The rural county is located northeast of Binghamton and south of Syracuse, and has a population of 50,000 people scattered across 899 square miles of rolling hills and valleys.
The Chenango County food delivery mission is one of many food distribution missions New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have been conducting since New York initiated its coronavirus pandemic response at the beginning of March.
In New York City Soldiers and Airmen have passed out 3,386,007 meals, and in Westchester County 90,408 meals have been distributed.
In Albany County, troops have handed out 2,589 meals and in Schenectady County 2,588, meals have been delivered.
The distance and dispersion of people in the rural regions of the state, makes getting food to people more demanding, local officials said.
The Chenango County Area Agency on Aging meal delivery program provided thousands of meals a week to residents across the county. Since its inception in the 1970's the agency's meal delivery program has provided elderly residents throughout the county with hot meals.
But the unique challenges presented by the Covid-19 global health pandemic caused county leaders to rethink how to implement the program during these uncertain times.
“Normally we have over 100 volunteers that volunteer for us,” said Jackie Lisk, the nutritional services coordinator for the Chenango County Area Agency on Aging. “We used to send out hot meals every day, but now we are doing frozen and shelf stable.”
While trying to sustain operations, Lisk was forced to find a way to keep the program running while keeping both the clients and volunteers safe.
“Several of our volunteers are aged 60 and above and are in the category that is most at risk,” Lisk said. “We didn't want to expose them any more than they had to and we wanted to keep the clients safe.”
In an effort to protect both the volunteers and the program's clients, agency officials decided to suspend operations mid-April until a safer way to continue the program could be identified.
“We stopped regular daily meal deliveries on the 13th of April,” Lisk said. “When we stopped on the 13th we had given them enough food to last until we restarted.”
It was during this time that county officials approached the agency and suggested the National Guard could be requested to alleviate some of the programs stress and help the agency resume operations, Lisk said.
“We were contacted by the county emergency management coordinators to see if this is something we wanted to pursue,” Lisk said.
The Soldiers began the mission on April 21, using Chenango County Public Transit buses to deliver meals across the sprawling region. “They just showed up and started working,” Lisk said. “I was impressed on how organized they were.”
Though the Soldiers have an extensive involvement in the program, their involvement is only temporary, and they have far from taken over, they emphasized.
“The volunteers make all of the food and put it into the bags and boxes for us,” said Spc. Ross Gillman, an infantryman assigned to Delta Company. “Then we go to the houses on the bus and deliver the boxes of non-perishable goods.”
“It seems like everyone is happy to have us here,” Gillman said, “All of the volunteers are extremely thankful and people are really happy to have us here.”
“I remember the other day there was this little kid and he was so excited to see us,” Gillman said. “He asked us, are you guys in the Army? Captain America is in the Army!
The Soldiers will continue to assist the county until the pandemic subsides or the Agency on Aging can resume normal operations without the National Guard's involvement.
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.30.2020 13:21 |
| Story ID: | 368880 |
| Location: | NORWICH, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 49 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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