Community Organizations

As a grassroots organization, Black River Action Team (BRAT) is responsible for Annual RiverSweeps. We began in 2000 with 4 volunteers, covering 100 feet of river. Now, dozens of volunteers, covering miles of river across several towns, have removed more than 500 shopping carts, along with innumerable tires and other debris, from riverbeds.

We perform monthly water sampling at 14 sites and instituted an "Adopt a Swimming Hole" program. Among our many other projects, we provide environmental education and citizen science projects, stream monitoring in proposed development areas, and clean-up at parades to prevent trash from entering the river.

We also started a "native nursery" on donated land to grow our own plants for streambank stabilization.

Donations are extremely appreciated; checks made out to "BRAT" can be mailed to us at 101 Perley Gordon Rd, Springfield, VT 05156. Funds support program costs for water-quality monitoring, river clean-up, educational workshops, and streambank stabilization tree planting.

The Chester Rotary Club meets at the Fullerton Inn, 40 The Common, at 7 a.m. every Thursday. Breakfast is served for $9. Speakers almost every week. There is also an evening get-together at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month, also at the Fullerton. Everyone is welcome.
Be sure to check out the Calendar of Events here at The Chester Telegraph. The Rotary is an organization that fosters service among its members toward the community and others. The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise. It is a a civic club (501 (c) (3) that raises money to provide scholarships and support other community organizations

Meals on Wheels (MOW) serves Chester, Andover, Springfield, Perkinsville, Weathersfield and Baltimore with a volunteer staff that delivers hot meals Monday through Friday to seniors who have difficulty cooking. MOW also offers a cold breakfast to those with the greatest need (all ages). It also provides a community meal from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the corner of Union Street and Southbridge. Meals to those younger than 60 years of age with a disability can be approved by the Vermont Center for Independent Living.

Senior Solutions, part of the Council on Aging for Southeastern, VT, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization serving Windsor and Windham counties. As a designated Area Agency on Aging, Senior Solutions provides information, referrals and basic services to seniors aged 60 and up and to their family caregivers. Services include case management, long-term care options, counseling, respite care grants, Meals on Wheels, health insurance counseling and much more. All of our services may be accessed through the toll-free Senior HelpLine at 1-800-642-5119.

It also has 501(c)(3) charitable status.