Here’s how to help — without getting in the way

Pop-up tents in front of a brick building as people walk down the sidewalk. — Various groups came out to provide, water, lunch and other support volunteers in downtown Montpelier on Thursday, July 13, 2023. Photo by Natalie Williams/VTDigger

If there’s been a silver lining to this week’s devastating storms, it’s been this: Vermonters, in astounding numbers, have leapt to their neighbors’ aid.

But even the best-intentioned efforts can sometimes get in the way.

In Montpelier, where roughly 1,400 people have already signed up to help, volunteer coordinators had an unexpected message for many who showed up downtown to lend a hand on Wednesday: come back later, please. With crews still actively pumping flood waters out of businesses and homes, too many people downtown would hinder initial clean-up efforts.

Many municipalities — and the state — are coordinating volunteer efforts and have asked people to sign up to receive direction about where their labor or equipment will be best put to use. Officials have a simple message: ask people locally what they need, but otherwise await instructions about how to help.

“People who wish to help are asked to register and not self-deploy,” Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison said during a Wednesday press conference. Another key message: don’t put yourself in harm’s way.

“Please do not become someone in need of rescue,” Morrison warned earlier this week.

While it’s sometimes very helpful to lend or donate material things, make sure you are responding to a specific request for help. If you have a sump-pump and your neighbor or a local business puts out a call-out on Front Porch Forum for one, reach back out and bring it over. But do not show up with random food or stuff from your attic that nobody has asked for.

And in general: giving money, not material goods, often helps the most. Donate directly to a local business or a neighbor who has asked for help (through a GoFundMe page, for example, that you have verified is theirs) or give to a reputable organization that is distributing aid in your community. Morrison emphasized Wednesday that the state was not seeking any donated items for the time being, but encouraged people to give money to established groups.

Oliver Olsen, a former state representative who lived in Jamaica, one of the hardest-hit towns when Tropical Storm Irene hit, recalled dog food, ready-made meals, bottled water and a “deluge of unwanted clothing” arriving in town in the aftermath. It wasn’t helpful — worse, it created headaches for people who were already dealing with disaster.

“There was a sort of a disproportionate contribution of material that didn’t actually meet the need,” he said.

Olsen also had this lesson to share: prepare for the long-haul. What he called the “groundswell” of help that’s offered during the clean-up phase of a natural disaster is very useful, but those who were impacted will need help (particularly financial) long after the muck has been cleared from Main Street.

“What tends to happen is that after an initial burst of activity, people sort of start to move on. And the big challenge I recall from Irene was that there are a relatively small number of people who have the greatest needs, and their needs are not going to be resolved in the immediate aftermath,” he said.

Here are some ways to give your time or money: