You can always rely on the Trehab Community Action Agency to assist the people of Susquehanna County. Overcoming obstacles is what they do best. With the holidays soon upon us, Trehab has finalized plans for food distribution, rental and utility assistance, and weatherproofing of homes.
“We traditionally feed 758 families,” said Dennis Phelps, Trehab’s Executive Director. “We presume it will be up to a thousand people this Thanksgiving because of the increased need in the area.”
Normally, Trehab delivers food to the homes during the week leading up to the holiday. However this year, they are distributing food throughout November from food banks in Montrose and Susquehanna Depot.
“They will get a bag of non-perishable food, dinner and dessert fixings, plus a voucher to pick up a free turkey at a local grocery store,” Trehab Administrator Edlyn Flannery explained.
Trehab has worked with local television station WNEP for 36 years to solicit support for the Feed a Friend campaign. Unfortunately, the COVID crisis has prevented Trehab from conducting food drives with local schools, churches and other organizations this season. So, monetary donations are being used to purchase food.
“Cabot has always been a strong supporter of Feed a Friend,” Flannery noted. And, although the schools were not able to participate in food drives, they have also given monetary donations. Trehab administrators continuously reassess the needs in their communities and have done what they can to keep small businesses afloat. As the shutdowns associated with the pandemic stretched into a second month, the agency helped to administer federal CARES funding in the form of grants to business owners who were suddenly without revenue.
A secondary regional initiative spurred by Cabot and other assistance agencies helped distribute funds to small businesses in Susquehanna and nearby counties. But the health crisis appears to be far from over, and that worries Phelps. “We fully expect the pandemic to get more intense as the next several months go on,” he stated. “We’re very concerned about what happens to those businesses coming into the New Year.”
As Trehab pursues its mission of providing and advocating for the poor, the unemployed and underemployed, and the elderly, we ask you to join Cabot in supporting their efforts by visiting the Trehab website to find out the many ways you can help make the holidays brighter for the residents of the communities in which we operate. You can also send monetary donations directly to Trehab, PO Box 366, Montrose, PA 18801.
