Amazon deliveries benefit family; grandmother is grateful
CAPTION: An Amazon driver picks up from the Newark warehouse
Thanks to Amazon, some of the Food Bank of Delaware's Healthy Pantry Center clients no longer have to worry about how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of reliable transportation impact their family's access to food.
Donna, one of our neighbors in the City of Wilmington, is a disabled grandmother who had to rely on her adult daughter to pick up the family's box of food at the Food Bank's Newark site. She worked two jobs all her adult life until 2017 when her struggle with spinal stenosis created mobility issues. "I couldn't put one foot in front of the other."
"Then we had car problems," she added.
Donna's daughter and her 18-month-old grandchild live with her, along with a friend's two children, ages 8 and 9; she's also had to help the two with school – online – despite erratic Wi-Fi service. Yet, she remains optimistic. "God will make a way out of nowhere," she said.
Her family relies on the box that's delivered to her doorstep each Thursday. "I don't know what I'd do without the Food Bank, and I've told them how great it was. So are the people; everybody has been so polite and very nice."
The Food Bank's Executive Coordinator Iskeisha Stuckey got the Amazon program rolling after receiving an email with Amazon's offer to deliver food to people unable to pick it up themselves. Ms. Stuckey reached out to state case workers who in turn provided the client connections. "We know there are people out there who need help. It's been growing really fast," she said.
Donna was immediately interested in the new partnership between Amazon and the Food Bank of Delaware: Amazon delivers food to client's homes. Naturally, the partnership has been a win-win. "I don't know what I would have done without Amazon," Donna said. She's been connected to the delivery system since October 2020.
Stuckey emails clients every week to confirm whether a delivery is needed or expected. "Most people have been very positive about it," she added.
To learn more about the home delivery program, please email foodbank@fbd.org. For other hunger-fighting programs, please click here.
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