THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, October 9, 2020 Page 9 Malden’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors continue to assist most vulnerable residents City Councillors grateful for help volunteer group provides across the community By Steve Freker T heir recollections were illuminating, stark and often poignant. “We get calls from young mothers at 3 a.m. in the morning who are completely overwhelmed because they are down to their last diaper... “...Or the sweet, elderly woman who called and all she was asking for was just $6.00 so she could make the co-pay on her medication...” These and other stories were shared to the members of the Malden City Council at Tuesday night's meeting by Anna Geoffrey and Kit Bridge, cofounders of a growing network of homegrown volunteers called Malden Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Born out of the chaos of need and affliction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in March, the organization has worked basically nonstop since then, helping Malden residents with many forms of assistance. “The people we are helping are real people,” Geoff rey said simply, to describe their mission: “They are our neighbors.” Geoff rey and Bridge reported that since March they have responded to 540 requests for help ranging from groceries to pharmacy/medications to cleaning supplies, PPE and personal items. The most consistent need, Bridge said, is in the battle against food insecurity. “We provide a weekly food drop-off for 132 households every week,” she explained. That number often goes up as well, she recalled: “On a recent Friday we delivered food to 215 households.” Elsewhere in Malden, Bread of Life delivers food to 87 households a week and 47 are serviced by the Malden YMCA’s program. “The need is defi nitely increasing; no one is asking to be dropped from our list, and we are adding people every day,” Geoff rey said. The group, which is not registered as a nonprofi t, runs entirely on monetary donations from the general public. “We have been fortunate; there are a lot of generous people in our community,” Bridge said. Bridge said a major problem in the city is those who are unhoused. “Malden has no homeless shelter, which makes it extremely diffi cult for those who are unhoused to access benefi ts they may be entitled to,” Bridge added. “They all have such complicated stories.” The group needs all the help they can get, and the two cofounders asked the Councillors to help spread the word. Most needed are more delivery drivers for the weekly food drop-off s, and also legal assistance for those facing eviction or other forced moves. Any local lawyers who could off er pro bono assistance are in dire need by those looking for help. Translators are another need, they said, especially those in Haitian Creole, Portuguese and Spanish. Those wishing to volunteer or donate to Neighbors Helping Neighbors are encouraged to visit the website at www.maldenneighbors.org. “Thank you so much for all you are doing,” said Councillor-at-Large Debbie DeMaria, who has personally joined the group in assisting Malden citizens, including well-being check phone calls to shut-in seniors. “We got together and called hundreds of senior citizens during the pandemic these past few months. That might have been their only phone call. They really need this help and attention.” “Every single Councillor appreciates your eff orts,” DeMaria added. “We are all moved by the dedication of all that you’re doing,” Ward 7 Councillor Neal Anderson said. “You’re down at the grassroots.” “Thanks for doing this critical work,” said Councillor-at-Large Steve Winslow, noting that he continues to represent the City Council on the Aff ordable Housing Trust, which seeks solutions to those displaced or homeless in the longer term. “We went through one round of rental assistance and are looking at expanding it. Please continue to keep us updated on your great work.” Veterans Day virtual parade videos wanted W ith Veterans Day on the horizon and as the COVID-19 pandemic has not gone away, it has become clear that the prospect of having a traditional in-person Veterans Day Parade is not possible. Building from the success of the Memorial Day virtual parade video, the City of Malden has decided to do something similar for Veterans Day. The City is asking all people who are either actively serving or former members of the armed services to fi lm a short video clip to be submitted for the City’s video. When submitting your video, please do the following: ▪ Have the Veteran or active duty service person themselves be the one to deliver the message; ▪ Announce name, service branch and current/former rank, and if active service where currently serving; ▪ Announce something about the person’s connection to Malden, whether saying what neighborhood the person is from, shout-out to someone back home, year they graduated from a Malden school, etc. – something that really says “Malden!”; ▪ Keep the entire video 30 seconds or less as the City anticipates a lot of videos to be included. You may submit all videos either by emailing info@cityofmalden.org or messaging facebook.com/cityofmalden to receive instructions on how to upload your video. 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