Army of volunteers guides seniors through lockdown
Services include grocery shopping, meal deliveries, and virtual visits
British Columbians have responded overwhelmingly to help seniors in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 8,850 volunteers have donated their time to make almost 11,000 grocery deliveries to over 10,000 seniors since late March, when Safe Seniors, Strong Communities was announced and the 211 phone line service expanded to match seniors and volunteers.
Isobel Mackenzie, B.C.’s seniors advocate, said the “unbelievable” response shows how much people care about elders.
“When the chips are down, people really care,” she said, “and they really care about seniors.”
Volunteers have also made 54,000 virtual visits and check-in phone calls, and delivered 14,000 meals.
“In the beginning, we were getting hundreds and hundreds of calls a day,” Mackenzie said from Victoria.
“Now we’re getting about 100 contacts a day through the website and calls.”
Silviu Toderita decided to volunteer after returning to Vancouver from a trip to Asia. By early March, he started to feel sick. He didn’t think he had COVID-19, but to be safe, he and his partner quarantined at home for two weeks.
“If it was hard for us, I thought, what might it be like for people in the community who are older and have less people to depend on,” Toderita said.
“It made me want to reach out and see if there was anything I could do to make people feel less alone and help with their needs.”
Through Collingwood Neighbourhood House, Toderita was connected with Vancouver senior Judy Smith. Every Thursday evening, Toderita phones Smith to see what groceries she needs.
He wears his volunteer name tag when he shops at Save-On-Foods. Altogether, it takes him about four hours a week.
Most volunteers don’t phone the people they’re helping. Instead, they get a list from a different group of people each week and shop on Wednesday.
But that’s a work day for Toderita, so he does his shopping on Fridays, his day off.
“It’s been a great thing to do and keep my own spirits up,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s easy to get depressed during the (pandemic) situation. Reaching out to people and helping them is a great way to feel better about everything. I’m happy to be doing it.”
Smith is glad he’s there to help. She’s 66 and has retinitis pigmentosa, an incurable genetic disorder that gives her tunnel vision. Going out in public has become a nightmare, she says, because her lack of peripheral vision means she can easily bump into people and inadvertently violate social distancing guidelines.
“I can’t tell how far people are from me,” Smith said.
“It’s hellish.”
One time when Toderita phoned her, Smith said she burst into tears because of the stress of everything in her life. She couldn’t think of anything she wanted for groceries.
“He was so kind,” she said. “He didn’t just get off the phone right away. It didn’t make him uncomfortable. He kept chatting and asking, ‘What’s going on?’ He’s a super nice guy!”
Smith said other people have offered to help her, but Toderita has become “the constant” in her life.
“It’s been such a relief to know he’ll call me on Thursday and I’ll have groceries on Friday. Every week,” she said.
Safe Seniors, Strong Communities is accessible by phone at 211 or through the website bc211.ca. Contact information is shared with the United Way’s Better at Home agencies, which connect volunteers and seniors.