A day ago in a town near you, a rookie Mystic Valley Elder Services Meals on Wheels driver tentatively knocked on a basement apartment door and stepped back to create “social distancing.” An older woman answered the door. Her husband was sitting in a wheelchair behind her. When the volunteer driver explained that she had brought them some frozen emergency meals to make certain they had food, the woman took the box of meals and cried “we’re afraid!”
We are all afraid in these uncertain times. But older adults and adults living with disabilities are especially afraid right now because they do not want to leave the only place they feel safe – their home.
You can help make certain that despite their fears, their chronic health conditions and often their very limited incomes, they will continue to receive critical assistance such as food, personal care and medicine.
You can provide essential support so that Mystic Valley Elder Services will have the immediate and substantial resources we need to adjust and continue to operate during these incredibly difficult times for so many of your neighbors.
Please support the Mystic Valley Elder Services COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency Response Fund.
Donate today and help vulnerable older adults and adults living with disabilities in Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, North Reading, Reading, Revere, Stoneham, Wakefield and Winthrop.
Your generosity will provide the funds Mystic Valley Elder Services needs today to cover the costs of these urgently needed, unbudgeted resources:
- Surge in demand for home-delivered meals and added costs of preparation and delivery.
- Personal Protective Equipment including masks, gloves, and hand sanitizers: Mystic Valley Elder Services has purchased $5,000 worth of masks, gloves and hand sanitizers to protect Meals on Wheels delivery workers and other front line staff who need to visit vulnerable older adults during this pandemic crisis.
- More than 100 new cell phones, $1,200 per month for nurses and care managers working remotely who need to conduct phone risk assessment screenings and do daily safety checks on older adults. By using Mystic Valley Elder Services phones rather than personal cell phones, communication will be improved and older adults and their caregivers will be more likely to answer calls.
- $25 grocery gift cards and pharmacy gift cards to give to home care workers to provide grocery shopping and/or pick up medications at pharmacies for 500 older adults. Grocery stores and pharmacies for the most part will not accept credit card pre-payments from Mystic Valley Elder Services and so low income older adults and their home health aides need a way to be able to directly pay for their essential needs at grocery stores and pharmacies.
Please know that your donation to Mystic Valley Elder Services as a private, nonprofit 501c3 organization is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. On March 27, President Trump signed into law the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act. One of the features of this new law is the Federal Charitable Giving Incentive which includes a new above-the-line deduction (universal or non-itemizer deduction that applies to all taxpayers) for total charitable contributions up to $300. The incentive applies to contributions made in 2020 and would be claimed by donors on tax forms next year.
Thank you in advance for your generosity. You and your support will help your neighbors continue to receive the supports they need to live with dignity and independence. You can donate online. You can also donate by sending a check to the attention of: