A new website is connecting people who need help during the COVID-19 pandemic to people who are providing it.
The nonprofit Common Good has launched a free online “Offers & Needs” bulletin board where anyone in the valley — or the entire nation, for that matter — can offer or ask for help where they live.
“I tried it and learned that my nextdoor neighbor was going grocery shopping and offering to get food for others to minimize exposure,” said Ashfield resident Mary Link. “This afternoon the things I asked him to pick up through Offers & Needs were on my front deck.”
Ivan Ussach, of Warwick, said whether someone needs a home-cooked meal, a ride to the pharmacy or an hour of child care during this time of social distancing, it’s up to everyone to make sure everyone has what they need. As a complement to mutual aid efforts springing up, the Offers & Needs bulletin board can help people expand their scope in addressing community needs in bigger ways, he said. The board can be used by anyone.
Kirsten Levitt, director of the Stone Soup Café in Greenfield, said she used the Offers & Needs bulletin board to find more drivers in communities beyond where the café normally serves its free hot meals on Saturdays.
“Demand on our service exploded the first Saturday after social distancing went into effect,” Levitt said. “We’ll only be able to expand capacity to meet demand … with tools like these because we need more volunteers in communities we don’t normally serve. It’s a time for all hands on deck, and Offers & Needs can help.”
Common Good Director William Spademan said, “Our Tools for a New Economy reflect core values of community resilience and caring about the people around us. Now more than ever, we want to do everything we can to encourage mutual support at the community level.
“It’s really about neighbors helping neighbors in small ways to make a big impact, without depending on government assistance,” he continued. “It’s how we build an economy that works for everyone, a common good economy.”
Visit Common Good’s Offers & Needs bulletin board at: bit.ly/3dCtFu5.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-0261, ext. 269 or afritz@recorder.com.