Winona ‘Neighbors Helping Neighbors’ group to continue post-pandemic

Winona volunteer-led group began to assist people during pandemic

WINONA. Minn, (WKBT) – Community members in Winona have been helping each other since the beginning of the pandemic. Neighbors Helping Neighbors is a mutual aid group that launched during the first days of the pandemic.

Engage Winona coordinates the volunteer-led group. Its aim is to help residents isolated by COVID-19 with critical services such as transportation, food delivery, chores and more. The group put together a community event to celebrate all of the things it accomplished over the past year.

“I think this group played so much more of a role than just helping people. That was a piece of it but it was also just a positive place,” said Marcia Ratliff, a volunteer with Neighbors Helping Neighbors. “And a bright spot on the internet where people knew they could come and see a positive story or a thank you.”

The group was started for the pandemic, but the volunteers said they don’t to stop just because things seem to be getting back to normal. They plan to help for a long time.

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