FREE TURKEYS, FOOD AND HOME ESSENTIALS FOR HOMEBOUND SENIORS AVAILABLE THROUGH PEOPLE’S ALLIANCE FOR JUSTICE

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By Miriam Raftery

November 18, 2020 (San Diego) – At a press conference held yesterday,  the People’s Alliance for Justice (PAJ) and partnering organizations announced that through their COVID-19 senior health outreach task force, at least 1,000 homebound seniors countywide will be delivered free turkeys, non-perishable groceries and home supplies such as toilet paper, cleaning products and toothpaste.

How to get help, volunteer, or give: To sign up for delivery to a homebound senior, or to volunteer, call the PAJ hotline at 619-354-8051. You can also donate to support this worthy cause at  www.peoplesallianceforjustice.net.

“Seniors are still our most at risk population and we must take every precaution to protect them throughout the difficult winter months ahead,” says Rev. Shane Harris, President and CEO of the People’s Alliance for Justice, noting that San Diego County is now in the state’s purple tier due to rising COVID-19 cases. It is one thing to provide information that makes the holiday season look dark, but it is another thing to bring a ray of light that can shine up a dark situation."   

he task force has served over 1,200 seniors already during the pandemic since Harris launched the effort in March. “ We appreciate the partners who have chipped in to help us make that happen," Harris states.

Those partners include the San Diego Food Bank, the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation and the National Black Contractors Association.

The task force’s efforts caught the attention of James Floros the San Diego Food Bank's President & CEO and Hameed Abdur Rahim the National Black Contractors CEO and they both chipped into the effort to provide support for the program that has helped so many seniors across San Diego.

 Floros and the San Diego Food Bank provided nearly 500 food boxes early on in the program which expanded the organization's efforts from just delivering home essentials to delivering food as well.

The National Black Contractors Association provided it's building for the taskforce to gather and to distribute the items out of. The Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation provided grant funds to the People's Alliance for Justice for it's program through their "Southeastern San Diego COVID-19 Community Resource."

James Floros President & CEO of the San Diego Food Bank issued the following statement on the launch of the program's last round of service "The San Diego Food Bank went from feeding nearly 350,000 people a month to nearly 600,000. Obviously we could not do our important work without partners like the People's Alliance for Justice. These community based-partners are essential to our success".  

Hameed Abdur Rahim, President & CEO of the National Black Contractors shared the following statement: "COVID is ravaging our communities south of the eight and efforts like this are critical for the high risk senior population especially in these communities where cases are the highest".

The program will have one last round of assistance for at least 1,000 more seniors across San Diego county and is provided on a first come first serve basis.

People can call the PAJ hotline at 619-354-8051 and leave their name, number, address and items requested with volunteers and a volunteer is assigned to drop off the items to the requested home, apartment or place of residence. The volunteers wear masks, gloves and social distance when dropping off.

View the full press conference: https://www.facebook.com/peoplesallianceforjustice/videos/787271778784990

 



 


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