VANCOUVER -- Metro Vancouver volunteers are pulling together to help the vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic.
Facebook groups offering assistance to those in need have begun popping up online, including one group called Covid Isolation Assistance White Rock/South Surrey.
“The initial thought that I had was to create a marketplace between people that need help and people that are willing to help,” said group founder Shelley Jankola.
And the group is gaining traction.
“I really wanted it to be something positive," she said. "Something uplifting: How can I encourage and uplift my community?”
One of the group members, Mani Amar, dropped off groceries on the doorstep for a woman in White Rock today.
“Anybody that needs help…We are here to help,” he said. “We’re going to help our community as much as we can.”
The help being offered is everything from grocery shopping (with goods left outside the door) to checking in with a phone call.
“This group means that I am not totally alone. It means that I have support,” one woman told CTV News.
Meanwhile, Sara Badiei and a group of volunteers have set up the Tri-Cities Corona Virus Telephone Support Line.
Badiei says she took the action after realizing that some of the elderly in her community may not be able to get the help or find the information they need online.
“If you need to order groceries, if you need to get supplies, if you just need somebody to talk to because you’re scared we can help you with that,” she said.
The support line can be reached at 236-668-7463.
