The Salvation Army Holds Drive Through Christmas Meal Delivery.
The Salvation Army Holds Drive Through Christmas Meal Delivery
to Provide a Record 4800 Meals to San Francisco’s Homebound Seniors
Thousand more meals delivered this year
What: Since March, The Salvation Army has adapted its traditional social services programs in San Francisco to accommodate CDC guidelines due to the Coronavirus and still efficiently serve the community. For its traditional Christmas Meal Delivery program, The Salvation Army has pivoted to provide a socially distanced program this year to continue a long-time tradition of bringing the joy of Christmas to thousands who cannot leave their homes because of age or illness. This year this delivery is even more important because elderly are more at risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Hundreds of volunteers will help deliver the meals on Christmas morning. For some recipients, a visit from a Salvation Army volunteer is the only contact from the outside world they will receive that day. The Salvation Army is serving 1000 more meals than last year.
CDC guidelines prohibited the decades long traditional meal preparation, so this year The Salvation Army is working with a local executive catering business, Andros Rostilj, that will be making and packaging the meals.
Who / How: Volunteers will drive in on Clara Street and be handed their meals, so they won’t have to leave their cars. Also, in keeping with health guidelines, some locations have asked volunteers to deliver meals to the front desk or reception area, for the meals to be delivered by property managers. There are nearly 170 routes. As The Salvation Army did for Thanksgiving, routes will be created and pre-assigned to volunteers using HERE WeGo Deliver - a free logistics software developed by HERE Technologies specifically to help small business owners and non-profits whose operations have been affected by COVID-19. The developers have provided direct support to increase the site’s capabilities to accommodate this large-scale event, enabling routes to be prepared exceptionally faster and utilizing in-built GPS technology.
When: Christmas Morning, Friday December 25
5:30 am – Set up canopies, meal staging area
6:00 a.m. – Prepackaged meals arrive at The Salvation Army SOMA Community Center, staff prepare delivery
7:00 a.m. – Volunteers check in
8:00 a.m. to 10:00 – Volunteers line up in cars, deliver meals
Where: Salvation Army SOMA Corps Community Center
360 4th Street, San Francisco CA 94107
Photo Ops & Interviews:
► Prepackaged meals taken off truck on pallets.
► Volunteers arriving in cars, being handed boxes of meals and deploying to delivery locations.
► Interview Opportunities with:
- Major Matthew Madsen, Divisional Secretary, San Francisco
- Possible interview with volunteers, as willing (volunteers range from families and individuals to corporate leaders and media personalities).
- Possible opportunities to follow along volunteers on a delivery route
About The Salvation Army:
The Salvation Army was established in London in 1865, and since 1883 has been serving the San Francisco Bay Area, offering practical support, spiritual comfort and a critical safety net to people in need. The safety net is funded in part by donations from the Red Kettle Campaign which started in San Francisco in 1891. Nearly 300,000 people living in the San Francisco Bay Area receive assistance from the Army annually through a range of social services; clothing and shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry, opportunities for underprivileged children, alcohol rehabilitation, transitional housing, nutritional and housing support for seniors and relief for disaster survivors. The Salvation Army provides services to the homeless without discrimination regardless of ethnic or national origin, race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or immigration status. For every dollar donated to The Salvation Army, 82 cents is used to support those services in facilities throughout San Francisco. For more information go to sanfrancisco.salvationarmy.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter @SalvationArmySF and Instagram @salvationarmy_sf.
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