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Home / Latest / Holiday toy & food donation drives, Eviction info for Lynn residents, MBTA virtual meeting on North Shore service tonight, & more | November 24, 2020

Holiday toy & food donation drives, Eviction info for Lynn residents, MBTA virtual meeting on North Shore service tonight, & more | November 24, 2020

LYNN NEWS ROUND-UP
NOVEMBER 24, 2020

See our other COVID-19 related posts by clicking here.


Holiday toy & food donation drives

Local resident Maria Aybar recently reached out to us to help promote a Christmas Toy Drive her daughter Isabelle is putting together to benefit the children of the Lynn Shelter Association. From Maria:

My daughter Isabelle Aybar is 7. During a discussion about giving back, she expressed the desire to provide Christmas toys for kids this year. Then she asked if we could collect food for Thanksgiving. That’s when I created a Facebook page, Isabelle’s Toy Box, to collect food donations and toy donations for the holidays. We wrapped up a successful food drive benefiting the Anchor Food Pantry in Swampscott and the Family Resource Center in Lynn. So now, we are focusing on our Christmas mission.

Our Christmas mission is a toy drive to benefit the children of the Lynn Shelter Association. At this time, there are 50 children living within the Lynn Shelter Assoc ranging from babies to 10 year olds. We wanted to provide Christmas for these children this year. We created an Amazon wish list (link below), where people can purchase toys that get shipped directly to us. Isabelle helped pick out all of the toys. We will then wrap all of the toys and deliver them to the Lynn Shelter Association. We are also accepting monetary donations via Venmo @Maria-Aybar-1, for those who don’t use Amazon or prefer us to shop for them.
We understand people may not feel comfortable with that, so we created the wish list to help facilitate their donations. We are also hosting a sock drive through the winter to benefit the homeless through My Brother’s Table. People can send donations via Venmo, for us to buy the socks, or pick up socks and drop them off to us and we will take them all together to My Brother’s Table. We are hoping to file as a non-profit next year so we can continue to support those who need it most year round, such as for Easter, School Supplies, Thanksgiving, Christmas etc…wherever the need arises. We are so grateful to everyone who has already contributed. We are making miracles for these kids, and it’s amazing.
Thank you for taking the time to read and spread our mission. Isabelle is SO thrilled to be able to help kids just like her this holiday season!
View their Amazon Wish List by clicking here!
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SPUR is also collecting toys & other winter essentials for both children & adults experiencing homelessness on the North Shore this holiday season. Find out more about their “Holiday Cheer Drive” by clicking here.
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Lastly, the Salvation Army is looking for donations, but for their food pantry. During the pandemic the Salvation Army has provided thousands of meals to families in need. Multiple times recently the Salvation Army has had to shut down their food pantry, which has moved distribution to Manning Field , due to food shortages. Please help the Salvation Army to continue feeding families in need by donating what you can.
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Click to go to Facebook event page

This event will be aired on our Public Access TV Channel this Friday, November 27th at 7pm. It will be available to watch on TV (Comcast: 3 / Verizon: 38), on our website, YouTube channel, & Facebook page simultaneously.


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Eviction info. for Lynn residents

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From Lynn United for Change: Some new data has just been released showing a steep rise in evictions over the last few weeks across the state and in Lynn (info on the data is below).

A group of Lynn United for Change volunteers are gathering today (Tuesday, Nov 24) at 4:30 pm in front of City Hall to kick off a renewed outreach campaign targeting vulnerable tenants who may have received eviction notices. Some of the volunteers who will be there today have themselves faced eviction notices earlier in the pandemic and will say a few words about their experiences and why it’s so important to get word to vulnerable residents about their rights and where to find help.

After a short gathering and a few quick testimonies we’ll head out to drop information at addresses across the city where court eviction notices have been served. A copy of this flier can be found above.

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New reports / data

  1. “One month after the moratorium, evictions on the rise”:https://www.bostonindicators.org/reports/report-website-pages/covid_indicators-x2/2020/november/rising-evictions
  2. There is now a public dashboard that maps eviction filings state-wide by zip code. There are some important details to know about this data, including 1. these are only non-payment cases, 2. you can select specifically the “pre-moratorium” filings or the “post-moratorium” filings (Oct. 17) or both on the right hand side of the map, and 3. I think there’s a significant backlog of filings that haven’t been entered yet and aren’t reflected here. Also: these numbers do not include “informal” evictions, notices to vacate, etc.

This morning, the Department of Research and Planning added a second page to the non-payment of rent evictions dashboard that allows users to search for eviction filings by city and zip code. To access the new page open this webpage, click on Massachusetts Trial Court, Summary Process, and in the top, left screen click “By Zip Code.”

The above info. was sent to us by Lynn United for Change.


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MBTA – Forging Ahead Virtual Public Meeting Tonight on North Shore Region

The MBTA is today reminding the public of tonight’s virtual public meeting from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. to inform riders and stakeholders, and receive their feedback on Forging Ahead, the Authority’s plan to preserve transit access and quality of service available to transit-critical customers.

The meeting will focus on bus and Commuter Rail (Newburyport/Rockport Line) service for the following communities:

  • Amesbury
  • Beverly
  • Danvers
  • Essex
  • Gloucester
  • Hamilton
  • Ipswich
  • Lynn
  • Manchester
  • Marblehead
  • Nahant
  • Newbury
  • Newburyport
  • Peabody
  • Rockport
  • Rowley
  • Salem
  • Salisbury
  • Saugus
  • Swampscott
  • Topsfield
  • Wenham

The meeting will be held over Zoom and can be joined by computer, smartphone app, or telephone. Members of the public may register for the meeting here.

The public is encouraged to visit mbta.com/ForgingAhead for more information and a complete list of meeting dates and times for more communities.

Accommodations:

All meetings are accessible to people with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency. Accessibility accommodations and language services will be provided free of charge, upon request, as available. Such services include documents in alternate formats, translated documents, and interpreters (including American Sign Language). For more information or to request a reasonable accommodation and/or language services, please contact the MBTA Community Liaisons at publicengagement@mbta.com.

For more information, visit mbta.com/forgingahead, or connect with the T on Twitter @MBTA, Facebook /TheMBTA, or Instagram @theMBTA.


From Mayor McGee’s office: The Lynn Public Health Department has confirmed that as of today, the number of active, confirmed positive COVID-19 cases is 1,089 with 69 new cases today. 6,007 Lynn residents have recovered and 129 have died. The total number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Lynn since March 21, 2020, including those who have died and recovered, is 7,225. Please visit the City of Lynn COVID-19 Data Dashboard which is updated daily.

*Updated COVID-19 Testing Hours for Thanksgiving*

Tuesday

  • 8:00am-2:00pm: Lynn English High School
  • 12:00pm-6:00pm: Lot behind Fire Station at 725 Western Ave

Wednesday

  • 8:00am-12:00pm: Lynn English High School & at Lot behind Fire Station at 725 Western Ave

Thursday

  • CLOSED For Thanksgiving

Friday

  • 8:00am-2:00pm: Lynn English High School
  • 12:00pm-6:00pm: Lot behind Fire Station at 725 Western Ave

Lynn Community Health Center

    • Open Tuesday
    • CLOSED at 12:00pm noon on Wednesday and will reopen Monday.

Stop the Spread Initiative Testing have been extended until December 31st

Please visit http://www.ci.lynn.ma.us/covid19/resources.shtml#p7GPc1_2 for more information on how you can get a free COVID-19 test in the City of Lynn until December 31st.

We will continue to provide regular updates on COVID-19 through the City website (www.lynnma.gov), social media, and the Smart 911 emergency notification system (sign up at www.smart911.com).

 

If you have a news story that you would like to share, please contact us via email or call 781-780-9460.

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