BRATTLEBORO IS A COMPASSIONATE TOWN

A publication of The Town of Brattleboro The Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce The Brattleboro Area Interfaith Leadership Alliance, and Compassionate Brattleboro Photographs provided by the Brattleboro Reformer

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Contents

Forwards ......................................................................................................................................... 2

The Charter for Compassion Mission Statement ............................................................................ 5

Compassionate Brattleboro Mission Statement .............................................................................. 5

......................................................................................................................................................... 6

Current projects of Compassionate Brattleboro .............................................................................. 7

Compassionate Brattleboro’s Unsung Hero Awards .................................................................... 10

Brattleboro Area COVID Period Unsung Heroes ......................................................................... 11

Compassion Stories ....................................................................................................................... 13

A Compassion Story by Sue Aldridge ...................................................................................... 14

Treating Cancer with Compassion by a Friend of BMH Oncology ......................................... 15

Welcoming the Stranger in our Midst by Rev. Lise Sparrow ................................................... 17

Waste Not, Want Not by Donna Thompson ............................................................................. 19

Gypsy by Tom Zopf .................................................................................................................. 21

Compassion: The Kids Get It! Stories from Erica Morse’s 3rd-4th Grade Class at the Marlboro Elementary School .................................................................................................................... 23

Modeling Compassion: A Deserved Honor for Brattleboro’s Extraordinary Police by Rev Scott Couper.............................................................................................................................. 25

Let’s be more like Alfred by Paul Rodrigue ............................................................................. 27

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Forwards “Compassionate Brattleboro.” There is a certain beautiful redundancy to that. There are so many ways in which individuals and organizations in our community demonstrate their commitment to compassionate action and compassionate living. Since 2017, those ways have been documented and supported and sometimes directly organized by a devoted group of people who meet monthly with compassion as the central focus of their work. Thank you, Compassionate Brattleboro, for all you have done in four short years to shine a light on the compassionate work that is already happening here and to speak up for the necessity of expanding intentional compassionate action going forward.

On behalf of the Town of Brattleboro, I am grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with you and to support your work. I am inspired by the many good, kind, and positively impactful acts that are documented within these pages and am eagerly anticipating the work that lies ahead. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided many instances of new compassionate action in the face of frighteningly increasing individual and community needs. As the health crisis eases, its economic and social impacts will endure. It will be incumbent upon all of us to stay committed, unselfish, empathetic, creative, collaborative, optimistic, and compassionate, as we find additional ways to be there for and with each other in service to the people of Brattleboro and beyond.

Peter B. Elwell Town Manager Town of Brattleboro

When I was a kid, I always loved the ancient stories of the Greek gods. They were filled with tales of humanity on the brink of hopeless oblivion saved in the last moments by one of the gods who took pity on the mere mortals and pulled them up to safety. I was awed by the power of these deities and their ability to show compassion to…well to us. One doesn’t need to read mythology to experience these classic tales. Great need is all around these days and the ancient gods are really you and me – stepping in to help pull people from the edge. The power the gods possessed was really just good old-fashioned empathy, the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes and imagine the hurt and need. Brattleboro has always excelled at that and the myriad social service organizations and legion of folks and businesses always ready to roll up a sleeve, raise a hand and say “we can help” testifies to that ability. I’m proud to be part of such a community – a compassionate community - filled with mortal gods ever watchful and ever ready to step in and help save the day.

Gregory Lesch Interim Executive Director Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce

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The Brattleboro Area Interfaith Leadership Alliance (BAILA) is thrilled to be an official supporter of the Compassionate Brattleboro Initiative. BAILA was founded in its current interfaith configuration in response to the events of September 11, 2001. Before this time, the group was composed of Christian and Unitarian clergy, but the events of 9/11 compelled the leaders to recognize the need for people of different faiths to understand one another and work together in a deeper way. Coming together every month to share concerns, plan events and respond to crises in our community and world has led, I believe, to greater compassion for one another, for our community and for our neighbors.

The root meaning of the word compassion is to share suffering. Compassion is an intentional act of love to open ourselves to another’s pain. It does not necessarily mean that we can take someone's suffering away, but we can stand with them and they can stand with us. It is a recognition that we all hurt, we all struggle and another person's suffering is our suffering. That Brattleboro has chosen to identify itself as a Compassionate Town is a radical act. May we be true to this challenge and to this radical calling.

Rev. Mary Lindquist, Rector, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church Chair, Brattleboro Area Interfaith Leadership Alliance

In March 2017, Brattleboro residents voted overwhelmingly to join the international Charter for Compassion, 150 cities and towns around the world founded by Karen Armstrong with the active involvement of the Dalai Lama (see the Charter for Compassion Mission Statement below).

The idea was originally suggested by the Vermont Insight Meditation Center, and followed up the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Initiative with particular energy provided by Dee and Bob Keller, Rupa Cousins and Dora Levinson.

In order to get the issue on the ballot, hundreds of Brattleboro resident signatures were required. One over-enthusiastic volunteer, so zealously pursued potential signatories that he was thrown out of the Food Coop, the Library and the Senior Center!

In May 2017, the Brattleboro Selectboard officially ratified the town’s commitment to the charter (see Resolution below), and Compassionate Brattleboro (originally including members of the Selectboard, activist organizations and religious institutions) was formed to help convert word into deed (see Compassionate Brattleboro Mission Statement below).

Activities initiated by Compassionate Brattleboro are indicated below, and they continue to evolve. With the onset of COVID-19, Compassionate Brattleboro and the Brattleboro Reformer published sets of Letters about Caring, Compassion and Connection. Then together with local institutions, it identified COVID Period Unsung Heroes in the town government, the hospital, the police force and the library, and subsequently sets of tributes to teachers and childcare providers who had gone above and beyond to meet the needs of our area’s children during that challenging time. A listing of these COVID Period Unsung Heroes starts on page 11.

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This booklet contains not only the above, but also a set of Compassion Stories of the Month which reflect the spirit of this remarkable area.

We consider ourselves grateful indeed to reside in a community that has come to embody compassion and kindness and to offer it with creativity and graciousness.

The Compassionate Brattleboro Working Group:

Sarah Bowen, Scott Couper, Doug Cox, Miriam Dror, Howard Burrows, Charlie Laurel, Jim Levinson, Marie Procter, and Karen Tyler

Brattleboro area residents are most welcome to join us in any of these activities. Please contact

us at compassionstory@gmail.com

Cover photo: Kids and staff from Brattleboro's New England Youth Theater offer sympathy to their Flat St. neighbors Stanley and Laura after their tragic motorcycle accident.

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The Charter for Compassion Mission Statement The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and put another there, and to honor the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others - even our enemies - is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the center of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings, even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

Compassionate Brattleboro Mission Statement Compassionate Brattleboro’s mission is to raise community awareness about the meaning of compassion in our lives, and ways in which compassion can influence the town’s government, the organizations and institutions within the town, and—most important—among the town’s citizens in our daily lives and interactions with others.

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Current projects of Compassionate Brattleboro Current projects include the following and can be found on the Brattleboro Town Website.

Community Conversations on Compassion – These conversations, held in the Brattleboro Library, have been taking place for the past two years and now, during COVID, are taking place via Brattleboro TV. The conversations have covered the relationship of compassion to such sectors and issues as town government, the police, health services, educational services, climate change, restorative justice, spirituality, and fear/safety on Brattleboro’s streets. Videos of these conversations made by Brattleboro TV are available on the Charter page of the town website. See also an illustrative announcement of a set of Community Conversations below.

Sister Community Identification, Recognition and Encouragement – While many towns in New England have sister communities, most of them in Europe, Brattleboro has reached further and established reciprocal relationships, to date, with the following communities:

• Colonia Pandora, Apopa, El Salvador • Meyer, Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti • Kaiguchu, Kenya • Hemachandrapurem �మచం�ద��ం “Marygold”, Telengana, India • Tsidi To’ii (Birdsprings) Navajo Nation, Arizona • La Plant Cheyenne River Lakota Community, South Dakota • Olean, New York1

These communities will soon be identified on a sister community signboard in downtown Brattleboro indicating the direction and mileage to each with appropriate symbols. Active efforts are underway to link classrooms in these communities with classrooms in Brattleboro, to exchange videos, and promote other exchanges.

Compassion in Common Dialogues – Recognizing the increasing divisiveness in our country, Brattleboro and several neighboring towns have initiated facilitated “non-judgmental, active listening sessions” among persons with differing perspectives on major issues (e.g. immigration, abortion, guns), but with a particular focus on the larger understandings of compassion these individuals share. The third of these in the Brattleboro is being planned at this writing. The Brattleboro community is also actively involved in the national Braver Angels initiative which is pursuing the same objective.

1 Charter for Compassion founder Karen Armstrong expressed a wish that Charter communities be in closer touch with one another. We are fortunate to have a strong and mutually supportive relationship with this wonderful town in NY state.

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Compassion Story of the Month – As a means of further sensitizing the community to compassion, and illustrating it, the Reformer and The Commons have been publishing these stories – which all can be found on the town website link below. As this publication is being finalized, we are up to Month 44. A representative sample of these stories is included in this publication.

Annual Unsung Hero Award – These awards which have been presented since 2016 (initially by the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Initiative) recognize individuals and groups doing particularly compassionate work but with little publicity and recognition. Information on awardees is included on page 10.

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Compassionate Brattleboro presents

Community Conversations on Compassion 2019

All programs on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m., Brooks Memorial Library

Admission is free and all are invited to attend

September 25: Compassion and Climate Change I: A Micro and Macro Perspective

Patty Smith, Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center; Phoebe Brown, climate activist from Middlebury, VT; Christopher Gaynor, MA student in Sustainable Development and Climate Change;

Laurel Green, environmental educator whose teaching is based on the research in Paul Hawken’s Drawdown; Jessy Diamondstone, Moderator

October 16: Compassion and Climate Change II:

Voices from the Community Michael Auerbach, BUHS Environmental Science and Biology teacher; Django Desi, BUHS student;

Dave Cohen, mental health worker; Abby Mnookin, local 350.org organizer; Lissa Schneckenburger, parent; Jessy Diamondstone, Moderator

October 30: Compassion and Restorative Justice

Mel Motel, Director, Brattleboro Community Justice Center; Jackie Trepanier, Program Coordinator, Brattleboro Community Justice Center; Suzanne Belleci, Director, Bellows Falls Justice Center; Mike

Stostak, Restorative Practices Coordinator at Brattleboro Union High School; Sally Struble, Director of Restorative Justice at Youth Services; Samia Abbass, member of the Brattleboro Justice Center Board;

Dan DeWalt, Director of Restorative Community Justice of Southern Vermont; Miriam Dror, Moderator

December 11: Compassion: “Work Today” and

Low Barrier Employment Participants to be announced; Josh Davis and Emilie Kornheiser, Moderators

•••••

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Compassionate Brattleboro’s Unsung Hero Awards The 2020 Award was presented to:

• Sheila Humphreys: Honoring her unwavering commitment and assistance to young persons in our community and in our sister community in Haiti

• Lorelei Morrissette: Honoring her unwavering commitment to and protection of older residents of our community with disabilities

• Tom Green: Honoring his deep commitment to meeting the food needs of food-insecure persons in our community, and his inspiration to young people to help grow that food

The 2019 Award was presented to:

• Volunteers of the Community Asylum Seekers Project: Honoring their work to provide safe and caring places to live for individuals waiting for adjudication of their application for asylum in the United States. This includes providing food, clothing, and other material support to these person who are prohibited from working in the US.

The 2018 Award was presented to

• The Dentists in the Brattleboro Area: Honoring their services to persons unable to pay and/or provide free services to needy persons in low income countries

The 2017 Award was presented to:

• Jennifer Mazur: Honoring her years of extraordinary and selfless service to her community in the areas of special education and mental health and her selfless support for those in need

• Sheila Linton: Honoring her years of selfless service to the marginalized in her community and her state with a special focus on social, economic, and racial justice

The 2016 Award was presented to:

• Kathleen White: Honoring her service, for 35 years, as a public health nurse and family nurse practitioner for the Vermont Department of Health, caring for the home-bound ill and elderly, for pregnant women and families with new babies, and working with low income population groups in chronic disease prevention

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Brattleboro Area COVID Period Unsung Heroes

Town GovernmentCalista Carbonell Patrick Moreland Sally Nix Employees at the Recreation/Parks Department

Starr LaTronica The extraordinary staff at the Brooks Memorial Library

Police Department

Chief Dispatcher Wayne Stires Lt Bob Perkins

Virginia "Ginny" Yager

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital

Marc-Olivier Ratte, Jon Harris, NP John Todd, APRN

Jennifer Funaioli-Sheehan, DO Kathleen McGraw, MD

Brattleboro Food Coop

Bernard Jacobs Craig Bills

Jaci Reynolds

Price Chopper

Becky Menard

Heroes recognized by area residents Erin Maile O’Keefe Ruth Tilghman

Susan Slowinski Christine Colascione

Academy School

Shellie Doubleday

Leland and Gray Middle and High School Bill Gallagher

Dummerston School

Erica Garnett

NewBrook Elementary School Suzanne Paugh Pat Mace Abbey Welch Special Educators and Academic Support staff Tracy Hunt

Ms. Halvey Ms. Derry Jen Aither Wendy McFadden Chelsey Johns Beth Beattie

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Brattleboro Area COVID Period Unsung Heroes

The Greenwood School Bruce Marilyn Rich Jesse Gerrit Eric Nate Z. Mike Julia Amanda Mark Sharon

Hallie Ilana Amelia Anne Annie Sarah Denny Josh Mitch Jean Susan Swayze

Putney Central School

Aimee Levesque

Guilford School Joann Tyler

Green Street School

Julie Ackerman-Hovis

The Remote Team from Team Felix Kristie Henderson Joe Rivers Mandy Nash

Michele Nelson Marissa Fuoroli

Brattleboro Area Middle School

Jen Miner Michele Nelson

Wonder in the Woods – Dummerston Billie Slade Bridget

Cathy

Early Education Services (EES) of Southeast Vermont

Teachers and Staff

Compassion Stories

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A Compassion Story by Sue Aldridge August 2017

Compassion. I could fill a book: from the way drivers automatically take turns at the 4-way stop signs in Brattleboro, to the many organizations around the area that provide compassionate support. Last fall a situation arose, like a Phoenix from smoke and ashes, a remarkable act of compassion. Jim Giddings’ studio burnt down, and with it about 40 years of his artwork was destroyed- calling out to the hearts of many.

We pride ourselves in this region for our firm foundation in the Arts - so many artists and venues, genres and disciplines! And so support for this artist, who has been woven into our art community for as many years as the years of artwork he lost, built like wildfire (please excuse the expression). Starting with the volunteer fire department and other regional fire departments responding, many friends, neighbors and strangers rallied to give emotional and fundraising support.

One group of neighbors and strangers impressed me particularly with their heartfelt generosity and their different approach. I admit to being biased about this group, as they were a class of 5th and 6th graders at Marlboro Elementary School where I teach Art. Their classroom teacher contacted me to let me know about a ‘morning news’ discussion the class had. The empathy and compassion they felt for Jim, particularly for the loss of his artwork which represented so many years of growth, learning, and expressing, called them to respond. Artwork being a tangible manifestation of an artist’s mind and voice, seemed an inconsolable loss to them.

Then one student suggested, “I think we should make some art to give him.” So began a collaborative piece the class made and gave to Jim Giddings. Ideas were voiced: they knew they couldn’t replace the work he’d lost – their purpose was to help him past such a difficult time, to voice their empathy, to give him hope and courage to rebuild his studio and restart his art. The images each student-artist chose to create in mono-print and scratchboard reflected this purpose. The careful choices they made in collaging the individual images into one collaborative piece, showed so clearly their unified compassion.

Sometimes I forget that children, being newer to this world, are more grounded in the present and the tangible. They want to feel, and taste, and smell, and see all the world has in it. Sometimes the loss of something tangible requires a gift of something tangible to represent overwhelming intangibles. Perhaps this is at the root of the age-old question: Why Art? This group of students through their actions and their artistic creation had one answer (I suspect there are more). Art represents and communicates overwhelming intangibles and feelings. Art is a gift of empathy and compassion when words fail. This group ‘nailed it’! So did the recipient: Jim Giddings was touched and told the class their art would be the first thing hung on the walls of his new studio when it was built. The day before school ended he invited the group to see their work, the first hung on the walls in his new studio on the other side of the hill in Marlboro. Such a satisfying circle of compassion! And a special ‘high-five’ to the student with the perception and generous heart who made the original suggestion that started this circle.

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Treating Cancer with Compassion by a Friend of BMH Oncology December 2017 As you enter the top floor of the Richards Building at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, you see patients making their way into the Oncology department. Their stories vary greatly, but, for most, their gait is anything but buoyant.

Agnes Mikijaniec, ARNP, and her fellow department staff members well understand what a cancer diagnosis can mean for a patient. It can mean fear, anxiety, and shock. It can throw patients into the throes of indescribable emotional torment. When is the need greater for providers to be able to form bonds and provide respite, comfort and, where possible, reassurance to patients who are at these moments so excruciatingly vulnerable? And when is the need greater for Brattleboro to show its mettle as a new participant in the international Charter for Compassion?

Agnes understands this torment well – and understands innately that every person, every situation is unique. For over 13 years, working alongside a highly experienced team of physicians, a clinical nurse specialist, and several oncology nurses, she has witnessed patients and their families undergo the heartbreak, but also, increasingly, the relief that follows a cancer diagnosis.

For decades now, BMH oncology and support services have grown and adapted to serve the changing needs of the community, as they are entrusted with the daunting responsibility of providing care for their friends, neighbors and community.

And for over thirteen years, Agnes Mikijaniec has been doing just that, and, in the process, has earned the trust and the respect of everyone she serves. “Agnes is a gift,” says one of her former patients. “She responded to every one of my visits and calls as if I were her only responsibility.”

Providing to patients, and particularly patients wrestling with cancer, the best available clinical care clearly involves not only identifying the right therapies and treatments, but also providing this kind of unwavering emotional support. Former patient Betty Wellman, marvels at the support she received from Agnes, and the boundless encouragement and comfort Agnes provided:

“She took such wonderful care of me. She made me smile. She educated me about my illness in a way I could really understand. I called her so often, and she treated me as if I were her dearest friend. We all could tell that she truly loves her job. Thanks to her and her colleagues in the Department, I always felt comfortable and secure, confident that I was getting the best - and the most compassionate care that exists anywhere.”

Ensuring that patients receive accurate and timely information relating to their condition and treatment is crucial for Agnes, as noted by patient Claire Lavender: “She has been such a comfort to all of us. Agnes makes you feel like she is your friend. Her empathy and kindness go beyond words. She is always approachable and appears tireless when getting answers to our endless questions and while determining the best treatment for each of us. She truly is a credit not only to BMH, but to her profession as a whole.”

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A cancer diagnosis may be the most fearful experience patients and their loved ones will ever face. But knowing they have a team of such compassionate caregivers standing with them, gives them the strength and resolve to fight the battle – or, where necessary, to accept the verdict. Clinicians like Agnes Mikijaniec make this possible.

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Welcoming the Stranger in our Midst by Rev. Lise Sparrow February 2018

The stories of neighbors helping neighbors are manifold in this compassionate community of ours. But with the holidays just past, I thought it might make sense to write about the hospitality we are able to show strangers in our midst. As we well understand, this is particularly challenging at present when the strangers are refugees – more than half of them children, and with the number of refugees now permitted entry to this country cut by more than half. In all, there are an estimated 11-12 million refugees in the world today, compared with less than 3 million in the mid-1970s.

One of these refugees, let’s call him Mwata, now in his early thirties, arrived in Brattleboro. He had lived in a refugee camp in Uganda since he had fled the perilously embattled Congo at the age of eight. As often happens in refugee camps, the refugees themselves organized schools and sports camps for their children to provide them both with education and with hope. Mwata, in time, became a leader in organizing such programs, although he himself had learned French and English not from classes but from other refugees.

But why should we find Mwata in Vermont? It’s often assumed that Vermont would be about the last place in the country refugees of different races and ethnicities would want to come. We are the second whitest state in the nation and our weather is far more forbidding than most of the southern and western states. Nonetheless, since 2013, nearly 300 refugees a year have been resettled here, mostly in the Burlington area where jobs are more plentiful and schools are prepared with ESL instruction. There also has been refugee resettlement in Colchester and now in Rutland with community groups in place to accommodate them. Still, many of those refugees slated to arrive in Vermont are still in European refugee camps awaiting release.

In Brattleboro, the SIT Graduate Institute recently granted scholarships to five students whose lives had been in danger. One of these students was Mwata. By time he was received here at SIT, Mwata had married another refugee and had a young daughter, so the three of them arrived from the warmest of continents to a place where the leaves were falling from the trees and the winds were growing cold. SIT granted Mwata tuition and helped the family find housing, but then it was up to them - and to their new community to find jobs, furniture and a school for the daughter.

They were soon welcomed into the life of a local church, and St Michael’s Catholic Church School provided the young child with a scholarship. Hilltop Montessori and the Brattleboro Retreat both provided jobs to Mwata’s wife, and individuals stepped forward to offer Mwata gardening jobs – although, being particularly adept at working with special needs children, he has been sought out to do that work when he is not studying to complete his degree.

And then, when it was discovered that Mwata and his wife were expecting another child, our compassionate community really kicked in. Friends organized a baby shower and people who barely knew the family came forward with a crib and infant care equipment that Mwata and his wife never knew existed. When the baby was born, a meal train was organized, providing the whole family with meals for a month. The child was born into the compassionate embrace of a

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community of strangers, not because of a government policy, not because a resettlement plan, but because the people of our town cared enough to extend love a family in need – a family which now loves us right back.

As we leave the darkest days of the calendar year, this is a story which reveals the essence of who we truly are: a “compassionate community”.

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Waste Not, Want Not by Donna Thompson July 2019

A few weeks ago, I was having lunch at the Works when a woman came in and talked with the manager. Shortly thereafter, the manager went to the back and reemerged with three huge garbage bags full of bagels. When I asked the manager about this, he informed me that the Works contributes its day-old bagels – as long as they’re still fresh - and other food regularly to soup kitchens and shelters in the area.

I must admit that although I’ve lived in Brattleboro all my life and have interacted with soup kitchens and shelters, I’d never focused on contributions like these.

So, I decided to learn more and made some wonderful discoveries about such efforts which seek to address a significant national and international problem. What follows is just a sampling of what I discovered.

According to the U.N., roughly a third of food produced each year for human consumption ends up lost or thrown away – that comes to 1.2 billion tons of food. The average person in North America and Europe throws away 250 pounds of food every year, compared to 20 pounds in developing countries.

In talking with Richard French, founder of The Works, and Susan Daniels, one of the managers, I learned that the woman I had seen picking up bagels, and her husband, are volunteers at the Drop-in Center in Brattleboro. By making such contributions, French has worked hard to make The Works what he calls “a community-conscious café.” The Works also contributes its compost to local animal farms.

Price Chopper’s approach is a bit different. They donate food commodities through the Vermont Food Bank which picks up the food on a regular basis, and delivers it to soup kitchens and shelters which have been vetted by the Food Bank. Last year Price Chopper in Vermont provided more than 300,000 pounds of food through the Food Bank. Price Chopper also provides donations of its bakery products directly to these philanthropic services which serve meals to those in need.

Amy’s Bakery freezes its day-old baked goods and similarly provides them for community meals.

One of the philanthropies providing such meals is St. Brigid’s Kitchen. In talking with Carolyn Pieciak, the manager, I learned that the Kitchen picks up bread, pies and cake four times a week from Hannafords. St. Brigid’s Kitchen also has received assistance from Rouleau-Holley’s. Each year Rouleau-Holley’s sponsors a competition for young person in Tae Kwon Do martial arts. The entry fee for students competing is 10 pounds of food which goes to St. Brigid’s Kitchen and to the Keene Community Kitchen.

Loaves and Fishes receives its food from the Food Coop, Dottie’s Discount Foods, Market 32, and Wild Carrot Farm, in addition to the Vermont Food Bank, and receives flowers for its tables from Windham Flowers. The Senior Center provides Loaves and Fishes with cooked meals, Thompson

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house occasionally makes sandwiches, and Bill Ames’ farm used to provide lambs, with the butchery services provided by Loaves and Fishes itself!

Bob Oeser, a long-time organizer at Loaves and Fishes stated that some recipients of lunches there have gone on to grow food and bring in eggs for the meals. Volunteers also have baked cookies, brownies and banana bread.

The government facilitates these contributions by offering tax credits for some of them. Of course, the recipients often have significant capacity issues so that not all of this food can be utilized.

Central to many of these activities, and a prime recipient of grocery store produce is the Vermont Food Bank. The Food Bank distributed 12 million pounds of food last year. An important component of the Food Bank’s work is its “gleaning program” where its volunteers, sometimes school groups, work with local farms such as Harlow Farm in Westminster during the entire growing season to harvest crops that might otherwise go to waste. One woman, Lani Wharton of Putney, has made it a tradition on her birthday to invite her friends to join her in this generous effort. Over the past 3 years, she’s brought 15-20 friends to celebrate with her at Harlow Farm.

The Food Bank commemorates apple season with the “Pick for your Neighbor” program where those picking apples are encouraged to pick all they want, but then to contribute part of their pickings to the Food Bank. In our area, participating orchards include Dwight Miller Orchards and Scott Farm in Dummerston, and Green Mountain Orchards in Putney.

Still another of the Food Bank’s initiatives is the farmers’ market-like monthly produce events at hospitals and schools. Don, suffering from a serious heart condition, unable to work and needing a transplant, was informed that his name could not be placed on the transplant list until his diet improved. This was more than challenging with his limited income. But Don heard about these Food Bank-sponsored food produce events, attended many, and now, with his diet significantly improved, is on the transplant list.

Let me close with a lovely quote I saw recently – one that beautifully captures the spirit of these remarkable efforts:

It is better to give than it is to receive. It is bad to give and not to receive. It is even worse to receive and not to give. But the best of all is at once to give and to receive. Love, the most inspiring and glorious of human emotions, is the simultaneous process of giving and receiving.

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Gypsy by Tom Zopf September 2019

Four years ago, I met and adopted Gypsy, a medium size beagle hound, from the Windham County Humane Society in Brattleboro. My wife had died the year before and I was seeking some companionship. Although my landlord, Brooks House, did not allow pets, they did make an exception for Gypsy when I showed them a note from my doctor confirming my need for a companion dog.

Gypsy was one of twelve dogs sent from Puerto Rico to Brattleboro. She was accompanied by the following statement from the Amigos de los Animals:

“We found Gypsy hunkered down in a lady’s garden box with 8 new born squealing pups. She was such a good momma and we figured that she had been dumped like so many pregnant females, left to her own devices. She was so skinny and pitiful as she worked hard to keep her underweight babies alive, so we took her and her pups directly to the vet where she was kept on IV fluids, lots of good food and vitamins for a week to stabilize her and her pups. Then we brought the family home and watched the pups grow into beautiful beagle looking things. Gypsy finally started to gain weight and once her pups were adopted, we were able to sterilize and vaccinate her.”

Three years ago, on the evening of Saturday, May 28th, around 9:00 p.m. I took Gypsy out for her evening pee behind the Brooks House. A skateboarder came around the corner and scared her. She took off through the tunnel pulling her leash out of my hand, and then ran up High Street. I went up High to Oak and some people there said they’d seen her heading up the hill. Hoping that she might have followed the trail that we usually take, I went down that path but found nothing. I headed home, hoping that she had found her way back. But nothing. I sat in the atrium until after midnight, hoping to see her looking for an entry into the building.

Immediately the community responded. A good friend immediately printed announcements that were posted on social media and tacked on telephone and power poles by friends, including homeless neighbors. I notified The Commons on Tuesday, and they inserted a notice with a photo of Gypsy inside the front page in the paper the next day. Over 150 people reported sightings of Gypsy. Eventually, have-a-heart traps provided by the Humane Society and the Town of Brattleboro were set. One was placed near the pond next to the old reservoir hoping that Gypsy might be seeking drinking water in that area. The same friend who printed the lost dog posters set the trap, baited it daily with a rotisserie chicken, and posted an action camera nearby.

Around 7:30 a.m. Gypsy was seen entering the trap. I was notified immediately and hurried to the site of the trap. Upon seeing me Gypsy eagerly started wagging her tail. We took her, still in the trap to my apartment where we let her out and celebrated. Over 100 people sent their congratulations.

In its June 29, 2016 issue, The Commons published a letter I wrote about Gypsy. The letter concluded:

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Twelve days later, she was home again.

She is home because Brattleboro is a special place, and it is for this that I am thankful.

I especially thank Scott Whitehill, who organized and masterminded a search. So many people were involved: supporting, reporting sightings of Gypsy, distributing and posting flyers and notices.

It was a true community effort, including by the Humane Society, which offered a generous reward; The Commons, which provided an ad; the police, who remained on the lookout and loaned a trap. A special thanks to Tom, Mike, Wendy, Marty, Kathleen, Steve, Cory, Cathy, Amanda, Scotty, Kevin, Donald, Tim, and many others.

Gypsy is home and happy, and so am I.

Thank you, Brattleboro.

Note from Compassionate Brattleboro: Tom Zopf, here the recipient of compassion, has, over his lifetime, been a major dispenser of compassion, addressing the needs of the most disadvantaged in countries like India and Congo. We are honored to have him living with us in Brattleboro.

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Compassion: The Kids Get It! Stories from Erica Morse’s 3rd-4th Grade Class at the Marlboro Elementary School May 2018

Honora

My brother broke his arm when he was doing parkour jumping and flipping. I helped him clean his room and wash his dishes.

Destinie

My little cousin, three years old, was playing in the river and tripped and broke his ankle. I helped him move, but he was heavy!

Nane

Me and my friends Juno, Avah and Maise had a cookie and iced tea stand. We raised $40 and gave it to the homeless shelter in Brattleboro

Hazel. My family and I helped out at the homeless shelter. We went and cooked 3 pounds of spaghetti for homeless people. It felt good to be serving these people.

Mckenzie

A couple years ago I was on the playground, and bumped into another kid. I tripped and fell, and my head hit a rock. Francie helped me get to the office and call my mom. It turned out to be a concussion.

Chloe

My family has always had lots of animals, but we don’t buy them from pet stores. Usually we get them from a rescue organization or from a family who can’t take care of them. My dog, Bjorn, a Great Pyrenees, lived in an apartment before and pushed the air conditioner out of the window. His owners sent him to a kennel, and my family adopted him.

Gabe

Once in second grade, when Duncan was pretty new, he got stuck in “the structure” in the playground, and I helped him get out.

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Juno

My dad works at Community House helping kids who get pulled out of school. Otherwise these kids might not be going to school at all. I sometimes help my brother with his reading. It feels very nice to help him.

Kolby

When I was in second grade I was pushed off to the slide and was unconscious. When I woke up, Francie had picked me up. She took me to the office and called my dad.

Mady

Me and my grandma collect lots of bottles and cans, and we send the money we raise to Operation Smile for children born with cleft palates and other problems. Those are very expensive operations.

Alban

In 3rd grade I was doing a Winter Sports Outdoor Adventure and some of the kids fell down because there was so much snow. I helped get them up.

Alex

A while back, Mady and I saw a girl who was really sad, so we went over and played with her.

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Modeling Compassion: A Deserved Honor for Brattleboro’s Extraordinary Police by Rev Scott Couper November 2019

Last month, during the Youth Climate Strike, Centre Congregational Church hosted non-violent civil disobedience training sponsored by Vermont350 and Extinction Rebellion.

At that training, I was struck by the feelings of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ coming from many of those on the Left about law enforcement, A.K.A. ‘the cops’. I worried that those whom we call on as first responders were almost de facto portrayed to be an enemy.

In some communities in our country, where, for example, civil disobedience is not respected and where Black Lives don’t Matter, that is often a valid portrayal.

Happily, it is not in our town of Brattleboro.

And so, at a recent meeting of the Community Equity Collaborative forum, I rejoiced to hear that the Brattleboro Police Department, led by Police Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald, received one of three New England Association of Police Awards for departments serving communities of fewer than 15,000 residents.

This award is no small thing. There are a lot of communities with populations less than 15,000 in New England. Lots! And Brattleboro’s police force received the award identifying it as ‘top drawer’, outstanding, in community policing!

As judged by the article appearing in The Brattleboro Reformer posted on 21 August 2019, this award does not recognize enforcement in terms of arrests, ‘busts’, incidents, charges, fines, or convictions. While such retributive criteria are quantitatively necessary, they are not, qualitatively, the point of this award nor the basis upon which police departments should primarily be evaluated.

The award demonstrates that our police department, under Fitzgerald’s leadership, is indeed compassionate and most worthy of highlighting in our Compassion Stories.

The key purpose of the award is to encourage ‘community policing’. Inherent in such a term is an understanding of reciprocity, of partnership, of cooperation between law enforcement and the community. It is not an ‘us versus them’ understanding of law enforcement. Rather it is an ‘us is them’ understanding – and hence a disintegration, to the extent possible, of antagonisms, fear, arrogance, force, aggression, and dehumanization which have so often characterized police action in our country’s history. An ‘us is them’ understanding of human relations is perhaps a key to compassion and, within the context of law enforcement constitutes genuine ‘community policing’.

Our Brattleboro police department, in addition to risking their lives to keep us safe, engage in many community activities such as reading to children in schools. (If I were a child in this town, I would be awed by such an experience and I would be far less likely to view the police as a potential enemy). Our police also host community block parties and cookouts. The Brattleboro police are striving to be more ethnically and racially diverse in their workforce. Our police work with Turning Point to better understand addiction and its behavioral manifestations. Our police have

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very positive relationships and partnerships with Groundworks Collaborative in regards to panhandling and homelessness. There are even ‘Coffee with a Cop’ events where anyone is invited to chat with officers. I am especially thankful that our men and women in blue volunteer with Big Brothers and Big Sisters. It is this grafting, this fusing, with the community, particularly with young people and the most marginalized in our community that enable the police to demonstrate an ‘us is them’ ethic in their vocation.

And, how about this? When climate change activists disrupted the Strolling of the Heifers parade in June, Chief Fitzgerald chose not to cite anyone, pointing to the town’s recent work with the international Charter for Compassion and Project CARE (Community Approach to Recovery and Engagement) collaborative of area health and human service providers.

I would like, personally, to thank Chief Fitzgerald, for being on-hand with his staff at Centre Congregational Church events to make sure that the community is safe when gathered. For example, this year Centre Church hosted the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Day service, an occasion with the possibility of white supremacist contestation. Our police were there to make people feel welcome and safe.

Centre Church and Compassionate Brattleboro are more than grateful to Police Chief Fitzgerald and his officers for helping to make Brattleboro a safe and genuinely compassionate community.

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Let’s be more like Alfred by Paul Rodrigue June 2020 Have you ever wondered about the challenges that cars create when it comes to interacting with others? Leaving aside all the climate change issues, I’ve long worried that driving a car just makes it hard to practice compassion. My experience as a driver suggests that it’s more difficult to connect with others from inside my vehicle. Cars make us feel bigger and stronger and faster and more protected. These attributes which work well in conflict, are just less useful in promoting peaceful coexistence. Cars and trucks, in fact, allow us to armor ourselves in a climate-controlled environment, giving us a sense of control and, maybe, even invincibility. Such qualities break down the potential connections between people, allowing ourselves to think we’re safe and powerful, and, at times, emboldened towards aggression.

And it’s easy to cause injury if we’re not paying full attention to the task of driving. We can even run over small creatures without knowing it, again contrary to compassionate living. Overall, driving in Brattleboro, as anywhere, does little to encourage compassion in many drivers. The long delays with traffic lights and train tracks leave us sitting in our cars wondering if we’ll reach our destination on time, too often leading to feelings of frustration and sometimes even panic, mental states which restrict our ability to practice reason and concern.

Compassion, on the contrary, requires a relaxed mind, one that is quiet enough to set aside its own concerns and, perhaps, even be curious about another person’s state of mind and, ideally, wish to alleviate any suffering that may be present in that person.

I find this kind of mindset so much easier while cycling, or walking. These “alternative” ways of moving through one’s environment invite attention to everything and everyone around us and provide ample opportunity for contact and kindness, in sum, a much more human means of transportation. I’ve chosen to use my bicycle as a primary means of getting from one place to another - sensible in so many ways including this one. It fosters a connection with everything around me: trees, small animals, pedestrians, even motor vehicles drivers. I find it particularly easy to connect with pedestrians. They move slowly, and usually maintain awareness of their surroundings. There’s often time for a few words as we pass each other by (usually at a safe distance these days). In the case of persons who are struggling in one way or another – most of us - connection leads to caring… which leads to compassion.

My favorite Brattleboro pedestrian, known to so many around town as Alfred, is always waving and smiling. He’s easily seen and recognized in part because he isn’t shrouded by the metal carcass of a car. He’s entirely approachable. He invites interacting with his smile, a smile that seems ever present. I feel better every time I see him. Whether intentional or not, his presence on the streets lifts my spirits. I assume many others have similar experiences of Alfred. His smile is like a compassionate embrace, even from the other side of the street. I’ve never seen him hurrying; always that same slow and measured gait.

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The pace of his walking brings to mind another facet of compassion cultivation: being generous with time. Compassion requires a little extra time; time spent attending to the other, even if it’s just a pause. It’s a pause long enough to share some word, long enough to hear and attend to the words of the other person, perhaps to look into that person’s eyes and actually hear the feelings between their words. A pause that carries genuine concern for that person’s feelings.

Cultivating compassion is an option available to all of us - - even as we move around town, on our way to work or running errands. Walk there if possible. Try pausing now and then. Move more slowly if you can, listening and attending. Be like Alfred. (And if circumstance requires that you drive a car, just be aware of its risks to compassion. Give yourself more time. Drive a little more slowly, maybe. Smile at others…especially if you’re passing me while I’m pedaling my bike. That way we’ll connect, and I’ll know you care.