List of grassroots COVID-19 efforts in WA
Thank you for adding us to this list of grassroots COVID-19 efforts! It is awesome to see the community coming together and learning more about all these other amazing initiatives.
Read here: https://covid19helpwa.org/featured/community_help_websites/?fbclid=IwAR1Jm0HHfoApOJRUT-Zwdfd2aDcNqgfc6mPq6mEKb61BRRi0-Z3chQNzexw |
Featured on ABC KOMO 4 News
Thank you for the feature KOMO News and Seattle Refined! It was awesome being able to share our story and we really appreciate the opportunity to get the word out there so more people who need help right now can access our services!
Check it out here: https://komonews.com/seattle-refined/the-shopper-next-door or http://seattlerefined.com/lifestyle/the-shopper-next-door
Check it out here: https://komonews.com/seattle-refined/the-shopper-next-door or http://seattlerefined.com/lifestyle/the-shopper-next-door
Featured in the Issaquah Highlands Connections Newspaper
Thank you for the feature Issaquah Highlands Connections Newspaper!
We are really inspired by all the awesome initiatives people in our community have been leading and we feel grateful to play a small part in an overall community effort! Check out the awesome work our neighbors are up to: https://issuu.com/…/may-2020-connections-issaquah-highlan…/7 |
Matches turning into lifelong friendships
Shopper Next Door is not just a service, we are a family focused on bringing the community together. When our volunteers are matched with vulnerable neighbors in our community, ongoing friendships often blossom out of these interactions.
One of our volunteers, Isabel, speaks about one of the neighbors she is working with: “We love [neighbor name]!! She is the nicest person ever and I am so grateful to have met her! I took my brother with me to get the groceries and we both are now [her] biggest fans! We made plans to meet up in the future.” |
Delivering home-cooked meals weekly to a physically disabled neighbor
A group of our volunteers (Jane, Dora, and Isabel) are working together to deliver 6 meals per week to one of the vulnerable members in our community! This neighbor suffered from a stroke a year ago, leaving half of their body paralyzed. This neighbor cannot drive and because they are paralyzed, they cannot chop food either so they have only been able to eat frozen food and cereal everyday, resulting in severe weight loss. Then, this neighbor was referred to Shopper Next Door!
This neighbor says, "Shopper Next Door has been wonderful and I'm so glad I was able to connect with this organization. The volunteers are wonderful and very helpful. This is truly a blessing for me. Thank you! Yesterday was the first time I had a home cooked meal in a while and it was delicious. I feel so blessed to be able to have a home cooked meal. It's been so long due to my stroke so it's been store bought dinners and frozen meals."
Our team is eager to support anyone who might need an extra hand right now and we are truly grateful to be in a community that is this united and strong together!
This neighbor says, "Shopper Next Door has been wonderful and I'm so glad I was able to connect with this organization. The volunteers are wonderful and very helpful. This is truly a blessing for me. Thank you! Yesterday was the first time I had a home cooked meal in a while and it was delicious. I feel so blessed to be able to have a home cooked meal. It's been so long due to my stroke so it's been store bought dinners and frozen meals."
Our team is eager to support anyone who might need an extra hand right now and we are truly grateful to be in a community that is this united and strong together!
Showing neighborly love even during times of social distancing
When one of our volunteers, Yas, was delivering groceries to one of our neighbors, she was met with this pleasant surprise! Her neighbor had taken the time out of her day to leave her a sweet note on the door to show their appreciation while still practicing social distance.
This meant the world to Yas, "They took the time to put this on their door and I might have shed a tear!!" Moments like these are why our team is so eager to help more and more community members! |
Volunteer Opportunity: Write letters to the youth at Echo Glen
Echo Glen is a Juvenile Detention Center in Snoqualmie that helps youth rewrite the scripts of their lives and untap their immense potential.
An opportunity for our volunteer team and all community members to help is by writing encouraging letters to the youth at Echo Glen. They would truly appreciate knowing that while no one from the community can visit them, that we are still thinking about them and praying for them. Directions:
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Our shoppers are truly making a difference!
Katherine: "The family I shopped for wrote me a very sweet note and they were EXTREMELY grateful. It made me feel so proud to be involved with an organization like this because I saw first-hand how much of a difference it makes for others in our community."
Yas: "The recipient of the groceries was also very thankful and that made me feel like I was truly making a difference during this difficult time."
Yas: "The recipient of the groceries was also very thankful and that made me feel like I was truly making a difference during this difficult time."
Mobilizing local officials and community support to increase accessibility to resources!
It has been a pleasure working with the City of Sammamish's government officials, like Mayor Karen Moran, to partner with established nonprofits within our community. Shopper Next Door hopes to tap into these organizations' existing clientele and help supplement their services. Our team of 31 is ready to expand our reach and help mobilize community support for all the important work that these organizations are doing! This is not a competition, we are all focused on the common goal of making sure every one of our neighbors is taken care of during this difficult time!
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Volunteer Spotlight: Meet Claire!
Claire is from Sammamish, WA and graduated from Issaquah High School in 2018. She is currently a sophomore at Washington State University! As you can see from her mask, she is a huge cougs fan!
After helping a neighbor ship some packages, Claire said "it felt great to help someone with an errand so they would feel safer during this time! It feels really good to use my time towards something positive now that I am home from college." |
Volunteer Spotlight: Meet Morgan!
Morgan is from Sammamish, WA and graduated from Skyline High School in 2018! She is a sophomore at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah currently!
After completing a grocery delivery, Morgan said "the past few weeks of self isolation have been an extremely confusing time to me as I have had to adjust to online classes, remote work, and living back in Seattle. Delivering groceries yesterday and doing something for someone else truly helped me to step back and realize I am not the only one struggling with the effects of COVID-19. I was looking forward to leaving my house and grocery shopping for my matched neighbors all day! It was a great experience and made me reflect on how thankful I am to have been raised in such a strong community. They were so sweet and it made my day to be able to be a part of Shopper Next Door!" |
Volunteer Spotlight: Meet Yas!
Excited to collaborate with Eastside Friends of Seniors
Over these past two days, I have had wonderful conversations with the Volunteer Coordinator and Executive Director of Eastside Friends of Seniors!
They are a Sammamish-based nonprofit who have been around for 20+ years and are focused on promoting the senior independence of those over 60 years old and providing them with support. Since we have similar missions, we have decided to collaborate! If any of our neighbors have needs beyond what our team can meet, like transportation to medical appointments, we will refer them to this nonprofit! It is awesome to be able to partner with such a great community nonprofit organization! We are not competitors, we are two organizations who have the same mission and want to help the same people! |
Huge thanks to Jane Chen!
Huge thanks to Jane Chen for donating 50 masks to our team so our shoppers can be safe while helping the community!
Meet Nerea, a sophomore at the University of Denver, on our volunteer shopping team! Our Shoppers are hard at work and we are eager to help more people! We want to help anyone who might need an extra hand right now (over 65, immunocompromised, single parents, low income, etc.)! So continue to sign up here https://tinyurl.com/wgjr3r2 to get matched with a volunteer! |
We asked our Shoppers, "Why do you volunteer?"
Emma: "I know my Grandmother is struggling with not wanting to go to the store and would like to help other older people with this stress"
Yas: "My grandma is part of the at risk population and I really appreciate how her neighbors have been helping her during this time. I live too far away to be with her right now so I would love to be there for someone else’s grandparents!"
Katherine: "To help out members of our community in need"
Dora: "My grandparents live in Romania so I can not directly help them in this way, but am grateful for the individuals helping them and I am looking for any way I can help my community through these hard times!"
Caitlin: "My grandparents have shut down their business in order to stay healthy and practice social distancing. I understand the cruciality of older adults staying home and would love to assist their needs."
Megan: "I have a lot of free time on my hands and would love to be able to help others since I am able to!"
Denise: "I want to make sure that no one is forgotten! I want to reach out to all the corners of our area with support and this is one way I can do this. GREAT IDEA!"
Morgan: "My grandmother is currently self isolating by herself in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has been on her own for about three weeks now and has expressed how lonely it has been. My conversations with my grandmother have made me think more about those who are unable to leave their homes to complete necessary tasks. "
Julia: "As the daughter of two doctors (one of whom is immunocompromised), I’ve been taking this pandemic very seriously. I acknowledge the consequences of a pandemic health-wise as well as socially and economically. It’s always been important to me to help others in times of need; this is the perfect opportunity to spread some positivity in such chaotic and uncertain times."
Julie: "I am grateful for my health and financial situation and would like to help others."
Nathalie: "If you are able to help, go help maybe you will need help one day. "We rise by lifting others.""
Yas: "My grandma is part of the at risk population and I really appreciate how her neighbors have been helping her during this time. I live too far away to be with her right now so I would love to be there for someone else’s grandparents!"
Katherine: "To help out members of our community in need"
Dora: "My grandparents live in Romania so I can not directly help them in this way, but am grateful for the individuals helping them and I am looking for any way I can help my community through these hard times!"
Caitlin: "My grandparents have shut down their business in order to stay healthy and practice social distancing. I understand the cruciality of older adults staying home and would love to assist their needs."
Megan: "I have a lot of free time on my hands and would love to be able to help others since I am able to!"
Denise: "I want to make sure that no one is forgotten! I want to reach out to all the corners of our area with support and this is one way I can do this. GREAT IDEA!"
Morgan: "My grandmother is currently self isolating by herself in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has been on her own for about three weeks now and has expressed how lonely it has been. My conversations with my grandmother have made me think more about those who are unable to leave their homes to complete necessary tasks. "
Julia: "As the daughter of two doctors (one of whom is immunocompromised), I’ve been taking this pandemic very seriously. I acknowledge the consequences of a pandemic health-wise as well as socially and economically. It’s always been important to me to help others in times of need; this is the perfect opportunity to spread some positivity in such chaotic and uncertain times."
Julie: "I am grateful for my health and financial situation and would like to help others."
Nathalie: "If you are able to help, go help maybe you will need help one day. "We rise by lifting others.""