VERMONT—The loss of a physical location in 2021 and an ongoing pandemic didn’t stop USDA Forest Service staff from serving the community this past holiday season. Like many Forest Service offices, staff at the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes Supervisors Office in Rutland, Vermont, pull together each year to give back to families in need during the holiday season. After another year of pandemic living, it is no secret that the need this holiday season was greater than ever.

Despite the supervisor's office closing for good this September, until construction on the new office is completed, staff rallied to help meet that need.

Budget Officer Pam Gaiotti coordinated the office holiday donations to a local charity. This year she approached the local Salvation Army, as she has done before, and was surprised to see so many requests for clothes, shoes and blankets. “Last year, the Salvation Army gave us requests from 35 kids and I shared the requests virtually on a spreadsheet for anyone who wanted to help out. This year they gave us 51 requests,” said Gaiotti. “I was a little worried not having a shared ‘home base’ might hurt the donation effort. I worried for nothing!”

Without the shared physical office this year, staff, working mostly from home, quickly got to work finding gifts for every child on the spread sheet. They drove to their nearest district office to drop off wrapped donations or cash, and one employee volunteered to pick up and deliver the collection to the Salvation Army. All 51 kids, age three months to 13 years old, had presents, and Gaiotti had a revelation—her fellow public servants are eager to keep connected to the community.

“Pre-pandemic, we did volunteer work as an office regularly. Out of caution, we’ve been missing out on that. This experience made us all realize that it’s time to embrace this ‘new normal’ of working during a pandemic and without an office. We want to get out and volunteer safely in our community again,” said Gaiotti. “I asked Service Center Director at the Salvation Army if they needed more help, not just on the holidays, and was met with an emphatic ‘Yes!’”

The GMFL Supervisors Office construction is not expected to be finished this year, but don’t expect that to keep them away from their community in 2022.