The Wild Women of the North Society is offering a service to deliver basic essential items to members of the Quesnel community who cannot leave their homes while in self-quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The idea to offer the service was borne out of a discussion between Wild Women of the North Society members Bea Peter and Willow Morgan, who wanted to find a way to help those who need it most during the pandemic.
Peter herself has a compromised immune system and believes services like these are going to be needed in communities all over the country as preventative social isolation measures extend for longer periods of time.
“There are many people who fall into the higher-risk category in the community, including people like myself, I have a compromised immune system, and those people are going to need help as time goes on,” said Peter.
So far, the demand for the service has been low, but Peter believes this is because many people stocked up on supplies quickly and perhaps because some people haven’t taken the COVID-19 situation seriously and soon the demand will rise as more individuals self-quarantine.
“Not too many people have called yet, but I think as people start to take the situation more seriously and more people self-quarantine, we will have more people looking for help,” said Peter.
Right now, it is just Peter and Morgan who are directly involved in the program, but Peter says they have other volunteers stepping up and ready to take action if the deliveries start to pile up.
The way the service works is individuals in need contact Peter via phone or through social media, place an order for the essentials they need, and Peter then sends the list to Morgan, who picks up the items and delivers them to the individual. Payments for the orders can be made by email money transfer or by cash on delivery, and the Wild Women of the North Society asks that a $10 donation be added to the delivery in order to cover the cost of gas for the volunteers.
In order to maintain a strict high standard of cleanliness and safe hygiene, the groceries are bagged and then placed into disinfected Rubbermaid containers, which Morgan then transports to an individual’s residence. The individual then retrieves the items, and Morgan disinfects the containers again before the next delivery.
Morgan believes that in times like these, staying positive and reinforcing positive community practices are important.
“I just think everyone should be nice to each other,” she said. “We are all in this together — the healthier everyone is, the healthier everyone stays.”
Anyone interested in volunteering with the initiative whether it be by shopping, delivering items or taking phone orders is asked to contact Bea Peter by phone at 250-255-0469 or through Facebook.
Members of the community who would like to use the delivery service can do so by joining the Facebook group Quesnel COVID Delivery or by contacting Peter by phone.
READ MORE: COVID-19: Quesnel Salvation Army soup kitchen switches to bagged lunches
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