The Bio X Cell Charitable Fund is continuing to support non-profits in our community. During this time of economic hardship resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, many charitable organizations are working hard to assist individuals with food, housing costs, and other essential needs. The Bio X Cell Charitable Fund recently made gifts to three organizations in our community that support key vulnerable populations. These organizations include Friends of Veterans, Meals on Wheels of the Grafton County Senior Citizens Council (GCSCC), and WISE.
Friends of Veterans is an organization serving Vermont and New Hampshire. It is made up of veterans and non-veterans and its mission is to prevent homelessness among veterans. This organization has seen an increase in financial requests for assistance as a direct result of economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 crisis. A portion of our gift has been used to pay the rent of a NH veteran who lost his job as a direct result of the COVID-19 crisis.
Meals on Wheels of the GCSCC prepares and delivers thousands of meals each week to older adults and adults with disabilities. They have seen their resources stretched since the COVID-19 crisis began; in some areas, the weekly number of meals provided by Meals on Wheels GCSCC has doubled since mid-March. They have also expanded the home-delivery meals program to include essentials such as toilet paper, pet food, and shelf-stable food items. We appreciate the work they do and are honored to offer them support.
A well-publicized side-effect of the COVID- 19 crisis and resulting stay-at-home orders has been an increase in violence at home*. Already tense situations have been exacerbated by economic stress and confinement. WISE is an organization whose mission is "to end gender-based violence through survivor-centered advocacy, prevention, education, and mobilization for social change". They have continued to offer 24-hour support to survivors and have created a number of activities for teachers, parents and students to supplement home lessons. We are proud to offer WISE support at a time when their services are so crucial.
*See: