Stronger Together

A plea came in from the Friends of the Wind River Indian Reservation on March 1, 2020.

“The situation on the Wind River Res is dire and going to get much worse. 

Most living there have no safety net whatsoever. 

This past weekend, an estimated 400 were quite sick, with testing unavailable for most. 

There is a giant gap while social systems/agencies become aware of the depth of the problem and figure out how to respond. 

The spread is fast and deep—generally extended/multiple families live together or adjacent and social distancing is pretty impossible to achieve. Most live in a small shared space–if one gets sick, others get sick in very fast order. 

This is simply a quick and small stopgap effort (and about 1/1000th of what is needed) aimed to get some basic food, and supplies on the ground while social service orgs mobilize on a larger scale. Please help as you can, and pass this along. 

Our friends from the Fremont County #38 School District will be bringing a truck to Jxn on Thursday to pick up anything we are able to gather, midday at the loading dock at the Center for the Arts (Thx CFA for letting us use this spot for dropoff/pickup).  We have 24 hrs to collect what we can that may ease a bit of the immediate stress for a small bit of time while others work toward a legitimate approach/solution.

What has been asked for:

Food. Vitamins. Soap/antiseptics. Books, Art and Basic School Supplies for students. Decks of cards. Seeds. OTC medicine. Paper towels/TP, Masks & Gloves (for the school bus delivery drivers). Pretty much ANYTHING you can think of that can be easily distributed and useful. Please do not donate clothing

Their school district will drop off to families (who are putting coolers out to reduce contact–almost everyone has a cooler available because they use them during the Sundance, so that’s great). They serve 470 students (1/3 do not have access to internet for online classrooms) and about 250 families. M-5 (thru the end of May) they serve breakfast and lunch to each student (a granola bar, serving of milk and styrofoam cup of hot beans or noodles)–this does not consider other family members of weekends. 

Pls drop off to Center for the Arts Loading dock before Thursday noon.

And again, pls pass this along to anyone you think might be interested in helping.

 Deepest thanks, friends. Anything you can do will be deeply appreciated. As hard as it might be for any of us, it is exponentially more difficult for our neighbors just 150 miles away.”

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Nature Valley did not hesitate.  On Thursday March 2, we delivered one pallet of Nature Valley bars to the Center for the Arts to be taken to the Wind River Indian Reservation.  It was incredible to witness such compassion from the Jackson Hole community.

There are multiple ways to help support your neighbors and community in this unprecedented time.  The most simple is to stay home and practice social distancing.  Other great ways to help include:

• JH Food Cupboard – The Jackson Cupboard provides essential, nutritious food for our community members in need.
• Community Emergency Response Fund – The Community Foundation of Jackson Hole activated the Community Emergency Response Fund providing immediate support to our community’s most vulnerable populations through grants to local nonprofits. 100% of the donations to this fund will benefit Jackson’s nonprofit community.
• Meals On Wheels – Help deliver lunches to home-bound seniors in and around Jackson. Meals on Wheels offers a friendly visit, a safety check, and a nutritious meal to seniors in our community. Shifts are available M-F @ 11:30 at the Senior Center.  Shifts take approximately 1 – 1.5 hours.
• Covid-19 Volunteer – Signup to be notified of volunteer opportunities to support local nonprofits responding to the COVID-19 Virus.