Jul 27, 2020, 22:08 PM by Alfredo Martinez

The Coronavirus outbreak has been very challenging to all of us; most especially to the vulnerable sectors in our community like senior citizens, children, and family members belonging to low-income households. Due to COVID-19, food insecurity has been prevalent and food-retail corporations are working together with charitable, not-for-profit organizations to give the communities in need all the support they can get amid this health crisis.

Amazon, the popularly known online retailer, is delivering 6-million meals to local food banks in 25 cities across the country with the use of their own Amazon Flex drivers. In Houston, Texas, Amazon has partnered with Houston Food Bank to bring service to senior citizens in Texas who are widely affected and needed help for regular tasks like grocery shopping. This initiative Amazon has put in place makes it more convenient for senior citizens to get their essentials as items are available for contactless delivery right to their doorstep. Similarly, DoorDash, a food delivery service company, has partnered with United Way Worldwide to reach communities who have problems accessing food and essentials due to the pandemic. The company helped serve vulnerable communities such as seniors, immuno-compromised individuals, and families among others. As of May 27, DoorDash has made almost 20,000 deliveries of grocery boxes in five states which include: California, Florida, Louisiana, New York, and Ohio.

Southeastern Grocers, a supermarket headquartered in Florida, has initiated relief programs to help the people affected by COVID-19 through their $5 hunger relief donation bags. From May 5-15, customers at the company’s BI-LO, Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket, and Winn-Dixie stores had the chance to purchase a $5 hunger relief bag at the store registers. The company was then able to raise $1.28 million worth of relief bags containing non-perishable food items to be donated to Feeding America.

Dollar General has focused more on its charitable initiative in nourishing children’s minds and bodies in low-income families through its Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The company donated $2 million to Save the Children foundation to give vulnerable children in rural communities, where Dollar General Stores are mostly located, access to educational materials and nutritious meals even during the pandemic.

The movement #weareallinthistogether couldn’t be more intensified in today’s difficult time. Families have been affected, the unemployment rate rose, and children are out of school due to the health crisis. The help of different sectors like food-retail companies to charitable institutions in the community somehow gives us a gleam of hope in one of today’s most challenging times, proving we can all make it through this.