Haverhill’s Breakfast Exchange Club Gives Grandparents a Helping Hand

Greater Haverhill service clubs help a variety of organizations, individuals and causes, but one is paying particular attention to older residents taking on unexpected tasks and responsibilities.

Judith Riopelle, president of the Breakfast Exchange Club of Greater Haverhill, recently told listeners of WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program about the club’s work with grandparents who find themselves raising their grandchildren.

“They’re so used to having things a certain way, and now they have this young child with them. Not only do they have to take care of them, they have to feed them, they have to put clothes on them, and we know how kids can grow. So, it makes it more difficult for them. It’s been a really great thing we’ve done to help them,” Riopelle says.

She adds it’s a situation that is often overlooked. “Especially one thing that is truly near and dear to my heart are the grandparents that have been tasked with raising their grandchildren. They need a lot of help sometimes, because we usually have children when we’re younger. They are on a fixed income. We help them financially, we’ve sent kids to summer camp, we’ve bought school supplies.”

Riopelle says the Breakfast Exchange Club also helps with buying grandparents gift cards that can be used for purchasing snacks for the youngers during school vacation in February and April. They also lend a helping hand in assisting the elderly in signing up for fuel assistance, and they help with veterans’ support.

“And the other thing, a new initiative that we’ve begun, is a thing called Happy Rides, where we provide taxi vouchers for folks to help get over the social isolation from the Covid crisis. They get these taxi vouchers to go do something fun, not a doctors appointment, not going to the hospital, but maybe going to the beauty salon to have their nails done, or to go shopping or to the library, and it’s become very successful, and we’re in the process of expanding that to the Groveland community as well.”

The Breakfast Exchange Club of Greater Haverhill meets on the second and fourth Tuesday mornings at the Citizens Center on Welcome Street in Haverhill, and new members are welcomed. There is more on its website at becgh.org.

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