Our community is large and wildly diverse, which is at the same time our strength and our weakness. #Activate10 is a movement seeking to increase communication between individuals and organizations across Fremont County and to promote positive action in our communities.
The Lander Community Foundation, announces the launch of Lander Connected, a volunteer hub to connect local COVID-19 needs with people that can help. With funding from the LOR Foundation, the site allows people in the community to make specific asks, like healthcare workers in need of face masks or those in need of food or pharmacy deliveries, and then matches those requests with volunteers. The vision is that Lander Connected will allow community members to ask for help and provide help with a few clicks of a button.
Once on the Lander Connected page, a person can ask for help for themselves or others by hitting the “Submit Need” button or can explore all the volunteer opportunities that are available in the Lander area. There are volunteer opportunities that are specific to COVID-19, like Carol Smith’s Lander Together grocery shopping project or Perry Cook’s mask-making endeavor, and there are more general opportunities like helping in the Pushroot Community Garden, participating in Blood Drives, and doing trail work.
“Masks are hard to come by, and Fremont County Public Health saw a great need to fill that gap,” said Dr. Perry Cook, a retired radiologist. “I offered to lead it. It has been an extremely fun project as there is huge community support in the form of mask makers, organizers that take in donated masks and package them up for delivery, and the drivers who get the masks to the clients,“ continued Perry.
In addition to making masks, Carol Smith mobilized at least 45 volunteers that are helping grocery shop and deliver food to people who are staying at home to avoid getting sick. Lander Connected can help with efforts like Carol’s.
“Our Lander community is full of people who want to help in a time of hardship and need,” said Mary Greene, executive director of the Lander Community Foundation. “I’ve seen a cadre of volunteers helping Carol and Perry, as well as other people in town coordinating personal protective equipment, meals to healthcare workers, and so on, it’s amazing,” Mary added. “While the impetus of Lander Connected was to coordinate volunteers in the community due to the outbreak of COVID-19, we know it will live long after and be a valuable tool for Lander in the future.”
Clair Smith, who works for the Lander Community Foundation and has helped to create Lander Connected, said, “We are providing a place for some community members to ask for help and for other community members to offer it. It is a way for all of us to take responsibility for the health and wellbeing of each person in the Lander area. We are all part of this wonderful town, and we are all connected. If we take care of each other, we are stronger. ”
To everyone who has volunteered so far, we are so appreciative of your efforts and time. THANK YOU.
If you or your organization wants to post a volunteer opportunity or submit a need, go to Lander Connected or contact Clair Smith at [email protected] or (307) 332-1438.
Featured photo: h/t LCF – A Lander Together volunteer and Mr. D’s store manager shopping for customers