PEACHAM, Vt. (WCAX) – A community-led fundraising effort in Peacham is helping families pay for needed supplies after the flooding two weeks ago, including residents who are still mourning the loss of one of their own.
Dump trucks loaded with fill on Wednesday were making regular trips down Main Street in Peacham as signs of flooding surrounded nearby houses.
Mercy Browne and Chuck Gallagher run the Peacham Cafe, which has been closed since the flood while the couple mucked out their own waterlogged home. “So many people that I can’t even name were there for us, people we didn’t know, people we did know,” Browne said.
That includes lifelong resident Alex McLean, who helped to spearhead the community organizing. “People took their grief and their sadness and they just channeled it into helping their neighbors,” McLean said.
Meanwhile, local farmer and YouTuber Morgan Gold used his online following to raise a lot of money for the town’s emergency response fund.
“At this point, we are actually up to over $114,000 and it’s still growing as people follow up and watch the videos after the fact,” Morgan said. “Having it be local means we really understand who was the most impacted and who has the most needs.”
Progress is being made in Peacham. One washed-out road is now almost fully repaired although another house has been deemed not livable. That owner is getting assistance through the Peacham Emergency Relief Fund Committee, as well as the operators of the cafe, which plans to reopen Thursday.
“The whole outpouring of the community, the fact that we know we are lucky. We’ve had real tragedy in this town,” said the cafe’s Chuck Gallagher.
“It just, I don’t know, it renews your faith in humanity,” Gold said.
One of two deaths from the storm took place in Peacham. Vermont State Police say Dylan Kempton, 33, was apparently swept away on his UTV in South Peacham Brook.