R-300 Page 1 of 1
2024
No. R-300. House concurrent resolution in memory of Phyllis Gigante of Brattleboro.
(H.C.R.234)
Offered by: Representatives Kornheiser of Brattleboro, Burke of Brattleboro, and Toleno of Brattleboro Whereas, Phyllis Gigante was raised in the New York City area, and, for three decades,
including while she was a young mother of two children, she was a staff librarian in the Lincoln Consolidated School District in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and Whereas, after relocating to the Tri-Park Cooperative Housing community in West Brattleboro, Phyllis Gigante immediately volunteered to assist her neighbors in any way she could, and Whereas, in response, the community formed a well-being committee, which “helped plant peach trees and invite[d] Edible Gardens to provide fresh vegetables” to residents,
and Whereas, the Tri-Park Board of Directors quickly learned that Phyllis Gigante was the person to call to accomplish a task, and, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she assumed a broad swath of responsibilities, and Whereas, with the community’s office staff absent, Phyllis Gigante took the lead in
phoning the 300 Tri-Park households to determine residents’ needs, and this initiative resulted in organizing volunteers to deliver groceries biweekly to more than 30 households,
providing medications to disabled residents, driving neighbors to medical appointments,
and arranging U.S. Mail pickups, and Whereas, Phyllis Gigante tackled other COVID-era projects such as organizing a Christmas delivery service featuring Santa Claus and elves delivering a hand-wrapped gift to every Tri-Park child, and Whereas, she served as an empathetic friend ready to listen to her neighbors’ COVID
concerns, and, with her brother, Michael, Phyllis Gigante set up a weekly food distribution table in front of the Tri-Park office, and Whereas, Phyllis Gigante continued her enthusiastic and energetic volunteer life until her death on March 9, 2024 at 76 years of age, leaving enormous appreciation and sadness in the Tri-Park community, and especially among her surviving brother, children, and grandchildren, now therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
That the General Assembly extends its sincere condolences to the family of Phyllis Gigante and to the Tri-Park community, and be it further Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to
the members of Phyllis Gigante’s family and to the Tri-Park Community’s office.
VT LEG #376920 v.1