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> Local News > East Longmeadow > Triad to distribute emergency lanterns through Meals on Wheels program
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Triad to distribute emergency lanterns through Meals on Wheels program |
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(clockwise from left) Brian Stannard, Ed Bowen and Paul Joyce met at the Senior Center to assemble and label the battery-powered lanterns that will be given to those who receive Meals on Wheels in case of power outages.
Reminder Publications photo by Courtney Llewellyn
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March 8, 2010
By Courtney Llewellyn
Reminder Assistant Editor
EAST LONGMEADOW - The Council on Aging provides Meals on Wheels every weekday to elders in the community who may need help putting food on the table. Now, the East Longmeadow Triad will be helping those same elders by delivering to them a battery-powered lantern for emergencies.
Triad is a cooperative program that involves the local police department, the Council on Aging and various senior support services and elders to empower, educate and connect them to public safety agencies.
Originally, Triad wanted to hand out the small lanterns at community events, but the group decided it would be better to give them to those in need, according to Ed Bowen of Triad. The group secured 100 lanterns and the batteries to power them recently, thanks to support from the Council on Aging, the Ocean State Job Lot stores located in Springfield and Rocky's Ace Hardware in East Longmeadow.
Triad members Bowen and Paul Joyce and Providence College student Brian Stannard, an East Longmeadow resident, met on the morning of March 1 to put the lanterns together. Seventy-five elders received Meals on Wheels; Joyce said the remaining 25 lanterns will be kept as spares.
Bowen said Triad's plan is to have the lanterns delivered with the Meals on Wheels.
"We have some other projects we want to do," Bowen said. "We still want to place visible house numbers on every home in East Longmeadow and we're looking into a blanket distribution program too."
He added that Triad's biggest problem with achieving their goals is finding the financial backing. The group is considering different fundraising options.
Anyone interested in learning more about Triad is invited to attend one of their meetings, which take place the first Friday of every month beginning at 9 a.m., September through June. To learn more, visit the Pleasant View Senior Center at 328 North Main St. or call the senior center at 525-5436.
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