MCA Covid-19 Community Care Packages

By Kaniehtonkie

Several Mohawk Council of Akwesasne District Chiefs have organized 'Community Care Packages for residents in the northern portion of Akwesasne. In a post on MCA Facebook it stated, "We wanted to acknowledge that dealing with the pandemic and practicing all of the necessary precautions has been, and still continues to be, challenging for all of us. We also understand that we needed to reach our entire community at once."

We are all in this together

Everyone can help reduce our risk.

Knowledge is power.

We must continue to wear a mask

We all need information and supplies to help us feel safe

This Pandemic can be stressful

During the coronavirus pandemic, Akwesasne has seen a 'Rise in Numbers' and the Chiefs wanted to give this message; While the 2nd wave may be upon us now, whether it's going to be a big wave or a small wave is up to us. Numbers in community and surrounding areas continue to rise. We realize the pandemic isn't over. Everyone is still at risk. We hope this package can encourage us all and help to provide tips and guidelines to help us all have a safe Holiday Season. And together we can curb the spread of Covid-19.

While gathering information on practical and useful information for the care packages, the district chiefs decided to include the following:

Information in Packages

Signs for Community Households

Grocery Shopping Lists

Guidelines to help us stay Informed

Contact Tracing Sheet

Screening Tool Sheets

Information about Isolation, quarantine, Covid-19 vs Flu season

Useful Contact Information

Information Magnets

Useful Items in Community Care Packages include:

Digital Thermometers

Disinfecting Wipes

Hand Sanitizer

Disposable Masks

In taking a holistic approach, the district chiefs want to address community members emotional and mental health by including, "21 Days of Positivity" – Self-Care Activities for families to help stay healthy, happy and safe.

Each package will be hand delivered by District Chiefs in the coming weeks by Ahkwesahsne Mohawk Board of Education School Buses following all safety guidelines and utilizing PPE to ensure safe zero contact delivery of packages to every household on the Northern Portion of Akwesasne.

Mohawk Council of Akwesasne looks forward to providing MCA community members with these resources and wishes safety and health upon your entire family stating, "We are all in this together".

Only one package will be delivered per household. And if you are not home, MCA will be keeping track of households and addresses. They will leave contact information and MCA community members can call the number provided and MCA will make sure you will receive your package.

Chief Vanessa Adams stated, "We all wanted to acknowledge that dealing with the pandemic and that practicing all necessary precautions has been and continues to be challenging for us all. We also wanted to recognize the need to reach out to all of our community members.

We wanted to thank you, our community members for your continued efforts to follow protocols that are in place to keep our most vulnerable safe. We understand that this has been a stressful time, full of challenges and changes. But one thing remains and that is our love of Akwesasne.

We hope that this package can assist our community members with signage, contact tracing sheets, MCA Dept. information and contact numbers to make navigating through programs easier and safer from the comfort of your homes. We've also included disinfecting wipes, disposable masks, hand sanitizer and digital thermometers. It also contains valuable tips and safety guidelines to provide COVID-19 information.

Look for upcoming announcements on the delivery dates. Until then please stay safe and healthy. Council looks forward to providing you with these packages and wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday season."

District Chiefs Vanessa Adams, Carolyn Francis, Connie Lazore, Tim Thompson, April Adams Phillips and Julie Philipps-Jacobs wish to thank the following for their assistance; Samantha White, Kuyra Chaussi, Taylor Armstrong, Kristy Lauzon, Chelsea Francis, and MCA Communications Unit Shannon Roundpoint, Ashley Johnson and Waheson Lazore.