The following is a press release from the office of First Selectman Toni Boucher.

In the wake of the catastrophic hurricane that hit Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, people in Wilton have been asking how they can help those who have suffered tremendous losses.

We’d like to thank the Kiwanis Club, in particular, for offering to organize boxes of material goods to ship down to those most affected. We have learned, however, that logistics make disseminating donations of clothing, food and other items impossible at the moment. Many communities are still isolated behind non-working roads, and air traffic over the distressed areas is extremely tight with rescue and relief efforts.

Instead, North Carolina officials are asking people who wish to send aid to make monetary donations. This will allow relief workers to obtain the items needed the most and avoid logistical bottlenecks. But please be cautious. As we were warned during our own post-crisis period, fraudulent actors use this time of upheaval to take advantage of people’s goodwill or vulnerability. We strongly encourage only giving to well-known, vetted organizations. Below are links to those we are sure are safe, where the money will go exactly where it’s needed:

North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund
North Carolina Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
United Way of North Carolina

Wilton can be proud to know that our own police and fire dispatcher, Ashley Momplaisir, who is a member of the Fairfield County Regional Communications Team, was sent to North Carolina for the next 11 days, as part of a mutual-aid request. The Regional Communications Team was organized several years ago to respond to large-scale regional disasters with a variety of communications resources. Dispatcher Momplaisir, and her eight fellow teammates, will be using their training in an area that has not had cell phone or internet service, or radio frequency, since the storm. They will provide communications to responders in their rescue and recovery operations. Please join me in sending Ashley and the Regional Communications Team our thanks and best wishes for a safe and successful mission.

Toni Boucher
First Selectman
Town of Wilton