How Blue Cross Employees Are Helping Flood Recovery

In the days and weeks since the July 10 flooding in Vermont, our employees have been volunteering their time to help with the recovery effort. Blue Cross Vermont has given each of its employees four additional hours of paid time off to volunteer (on top of the eight-hour Blue Crew Day of Service volunteer time they receive each calendar year). Employees are encouraged to use the extra time to volunteer for flood relief efforts. 

Volunteering Examples

From feeding cleanup workers to removing debris from flooded buildings, Blue Cross Vermont employees are pitching in. Here are some examples of how they’ve been helping Vermonters affected by the flood.

Through a friend, Michelle McAllister was able to access water and food that had been donated by employees at the Burlington International Airport. She reached out to another contact at the Tilden House apartments in Barre and made care packages for residents in need.

Cerridwen Moser-Bertsche has been volunteering in both Barre and Montpelier, helping local businesses with cleanup efforts. At Dente’s on North Main Street in Barre, she helped the owners move thick muck out of the shop. “They were appreciative of another set of hands and I'm happy to have met them both. I plan to head back in as soon as I can and see what else I can do to help them out,” she says.

Joshua Minkin helped move waterlogged seats out the flooded Capitol Theater on State Street in Montpelier. 

Jessica Pinkans volunteered at a private residence in Montpelier, cleaning up and clearing out debris. Jessica says her volunteer work there involved “shoveling the garage free of mud and muck and digging out culverts that were clogged around the property.”

Rebecca Heintz and Dr. Tom Weigel, along with Alice McDermott, Kylie McKeever, Angelina Buzzi, and Greg Boulbol, helped with flood recovery in downtown Montpelier. "It was quite the experience and we would recommend that everyone do it," Rebecca says. "Big thanks to Blue Cross Vermont for giving us this time to help our community!"

Ambir Plante Moote and Cari Spaulding Aylward purchased food to make more than 50 sandwiches, along with two large pasta salads. They delivered lunch to the crew cleaning up at Nelson Hardware in Barre, and then went looking for more workers to feed. “We stopped at this one house that had 17 workers helping a woman clean her house and we left the rest of the food for them,” Ambir says. Ambir and Cari also provided some groceries to a Barre resident who had asked a local church for help with food. “It was a super busy day, yet it is so satisfying to help these people,” she says. “I encourage you all to get out there and help. A little act of kindness can go a long way.”

Fundraising

In addition to volunteering their time, Blue Cross Vermont employees have been donating money to the Green Mountain United Way’s flood relief fundraiser. Employees donated $3,325, with Blue Cross Vermont matching employee contributions dollar-for-dollar, with a total of donation to the Green Mountain United Way of $6,650. Blue Cross Vermont and Blue Cross Michigan have also jointly pledged $100,000 to the Vermont Community Foundation’s Vermont Flood Response and Recovery Fund. Our first check has already arrived at the Foundation’s office.

Get Involved

If you would like to get involved with the flood relief effort, the State of Vermont has created a volunteer registry. If you would prefer to make a financial donation, the Green Mountain United Way and the Vermont Community Foundation are actively raising money to assist individuals and businesses affected by the flooding.  

We'd love to see how you are showing up for your community. For our annual Hike, Bike, and Paddle event we're encouraging volunteering as a way to get out and get active. Tag us on social media or email us photos to enter to win an awesome kayak prize. For each submission through August 13, we'll also donate $5 to Camp Exclamation Point.