Meals on Wheels organizations request hygiene and cleaning donations for restricted customers

In various parts of New Jersey, seniors in their home country need more than just the delivery of their meals.

This is the message from two governmental organizations on wheels asking for donations of cleaning and care products to be delivered to older and disabled customers during the coronavirus pandemic.

These programs for meals on wheels are aimed at seniors living in Ocean County or Greater New Brunswick. While they continue to provide them with meals on a regular basis, including additional emergency foods in the event delivery rates are affected by COVID-19, these organizations are also making it more difficult to provide hygiene products to their customers each time. purchase due to hoarding in supermarkets .

Meals on wheels from Ocean County packed around 10,000 meals between March 21 and 22. Courtesy - Ocean County Meals on Wheels

Jim Sigurdson, executive director of Meals on Wheels in Ocean County , said the more than 1,000 customers served by the organization need daily supplies, including toilet paper, paper towels, handkerchiefs, and disinfectant and disinfectant wipes.

"Our homeless are disadvantaged from the start," said Sigurdson. "Many of them have no informal community support to help them. Many of them needed nurses to get the staples for themselves, and now they need those staples. ""

Sigurdson hesitated to use the allocated funds to provide senior food, and said he had asked for help from the Ocean County Board of Shareholders and had received donations from the Causeway dealer family in Manahawkin and the Lester Glenn Auto Group in Toms. Flow. the Grunin Foundation in Toms River, the Hovnanian Foundation in Tinton Falls and the counties United Way of the Ocean and Monmouth in Wall Township.

However, Sigurdson emphasized that the need for these products continues and is likely to become more pressing as the pandemic continues.

"It's a growing need. The longer this crisis lasts, the more likely we are to increase the spread of these things," said Sigurdson.

Sigurdson added that meals on wheels in Ocean County effectively help keep more than 1,000 people healthy and out of hospital, and called the community organization's request for help "the right thing."

"So we ask the church to do the right thing too, and we ask people who have an excess of these things to give it to them so that we can give it to the people who really need it and who really do "" "Don't leave your own home to insure these items," he said.

Shareka Fitz, general manager of Meals on Wheels in the New Brunswick area , like Sigurdson, was looking for hygiene products to supply the company's approximately 70 customers, including chlorine, lysol, dishwashing liquid and paper towels.

"We received about 10 calls for cleaning products last week," said Fitz. "We tried to find a place to offer cleaning supplies because we had already used up our budget for (stable) emergency meals."

"(Our customers) are looking for all sorts of things because they can't get out."

The organization has lost approximately 95% of its volunteers since the onset of the coronavirus epidemic and has grown from 120 regular employees to approximately six. However, supporting new volunteers, including medical students at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, and adjusting the organization's schedule have alleviated the problems caused by the decline in volunteering, Fitz said. .

Former New Brunswick consultant Betsy Garlatti delivered meals to older people in 2012 who lived in her home in New Brunswick. Courtesy - Meals on wheels in the New Brunswick area

When Fitz considered his desire to have more customers at home than is typical for Meals on Wheels, Fitz realized that this demand was at the heart of the organization itself.

"Our motto is that meals on wheels are more than just a meal," said Fitz. "And whatever you need to stay at home, if we can help you do it, we will."

Meals on Ocean County bikes have the following mailing address: PO Box 610, Stafford, NJ 08050-0610. People can call to the organization of (609) 978-6869 or send an e - mail to info@csimow.org .

Meals on Wheels in Greater New Brunswick has the following address: 211 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08,901th People can to the organization by calling (732) 249-3488 or send an e - mail to mowgnb@aol.com .

If you want updates on the corona-specific news in New Jersey, Report It - up for our newsletter coronavirus in New Jersey .

Tell us about your coronavirus stories , whether it's information, a topic to be covered, or a personal story you'd like to share.

Do you have any advice Tell us.nj.com / tips .

Caroline Fassett may be cfassett@njadvancemedia.com contacted are . Find NJ.com on Facebook .

Let's block the ads! (Why?)