Haines is in the grips of its largest COVID-19 outbreak of the pandemic. With dozens of active cases, many community members are isolating to prevent the spread of the infection.
But, how do people in isolation get soup, mail, medicine, or any of the dozens of other things they need every day? KHNS’ Mike Swasey spoke with Caroline Hankins from the Chilkat Valley Support Chain about how they can help.
Swasey – Tell me about the Chilkat Valley support chain. What’s the mission of that organization?
Hankins – Yeah, so the Chilkat Valley support chain was started in March of 2020 when we first started into the COVID era. And there was a group, Sarah Chapell, Vanessa Salmon, and I, decided it’d be good if we had a way to match people in need in the town of Haines with a volunteer so that they can quarantine safely at home. The volunteer can pick up groceries, medicine, mail, pretty much anything anyone needs so that they don’t have to leave their house.
Swasey – How can people find you if they need your help?
Hankins – So you can go on the Haines Borough EOC Facebook page, and there’s a link there. You can also go to the Haines Borough website. You’ll fill out a questionnaire and then that will go to me and I’ll get an alert. And then I’ll match you with a volunteer that we have standing by.
On that note, it is volunteer-run, and most of us managing this have full-time jobs. So we check in the morning and the evening, and we’ll get you matched as soon as possible. But don’t expect to like to get matched right away, and then get it maybe in an hour or so, it might take a day or two.
Swasey – Are you saying you’re not as fast as Uber Eats?
Hankins – Not as fast as Uber Eats, I wish we could be! We could pick up all the food around town and deliver it. Not that fast. But now I get a notification on my cell phone if someone signed up which is new and fancy as of two months ago, so it will get done a lot quicker.
Sarah Chapell is ready to take phone calls. So if you don’t want to fill out the form yourself, you can call Sarah Chapell, her number is 888-487-1021. And she will fill out the form with you over the phone.
There are also options to sign up if you’re just feeling lonely, and you’d like someone to call and check in and maybe have a conversation. That’s something you can do, we don’t want anyone feeling lonely. Right now, we have 13 people ready. And that’s more than enough to get people their groceries and everything they need. So feeling thankful that there are so many wonderful volunteers out there.
Swasey – Caroline, what a great idea. Thanks for putting together a service like this to serve the community. I think it’s just a wonderful thing to do.
Hankins – Yeah, no worries.
The Chilkat Valley Support Chain can be reached online through a Google search, the Haines Borough website, or by phone at 888-487-1021.
