INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. — Indian Rocks Beach wants to make sure the people who are stuck inside during the coronavirus pandemic are able to get the life-saving food and medication when they need it without putting themselves at risk.
Action 2000 and Indian Rocks Beach Home Owners Association are joining together to establish a hotline that can be used by the community to ask for help. The line will connect to about five phones that are manned by volunteers.
When an elderly, or in-need person calls in, volunteers will record their needs, and coordinate a plan."
"Volunteers will be taking calls and following up with that individual to get the specifics of what they need. It could be as simple as, I need to order some groceries, or I need groceries picked up, or I need my medicine from the pharmacy picked up. How do I do that, because I can’t drive, I am not supposed to go out. And so then we will dispatch that individual, or that group of volunteers, to do that for that individual," explained John Ashby, the president of the non-profit group Action 2000.
The service will be conducted free of charge.
While there are delivery services that can facilitate grocery and medication drop-offs, those services require Internet access, digital fluency and cost money. The goal of this program is to target the elderly population that is not digitally connected due to age and experience.
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