As the pandemic worsens, it is high time that we unite to take care of the at-risk populations in the community as well as each other. Avoiding outdoor trips not only reduces the risk of exposures for ourselves but also makes public places like grocery stores less crowded, further reducing covert transmissions. As members of the Center County Community, we aim to form a community network for people in the same area to take turns to pick up groceries for multiple households at once so that fewer outdoor trips be made.
For the safety of everyone in this community, we highly recommend everyone in the network to gear up with face masks (and preferably also gloves) for all outdoor activities. If you have underlying health concerns, please stay at home and let us help (
https://cccovid19response.org/resident-to-resident-support/). If you feel healthy but have recent travel history or have recently closely interacted with travelers, we also recommend staying at home as much as possible. If you know others in town who can use our help, please spread the news and let us help them too!
At the moment, we're getting in touch with local churches, the Centre County aging office, and senior centers to collect information on households with elderly people living by themselves. Once we get in touch with them, we will match their information to volunteers in the corresponding area. People who have reached out to us for help will also be connected with the area volunteers.
If you would still like to help more, we recommend you consider volunteering or donating to State College Meals on Wheels:
https://scmow.2stayconnected.com/index.php