Here’s another round of applause for people and organizations making a difference in the community.

 

With reports of the novel coronavirus being a threat to senior citizens, Adrian Rivers wants to ensure they get their necessities. Rivers, founder of the When Leaders Meet organization, has established A Faithful Few Senior Concierge. The service will provide senior citizens with options to retrieve groceries or medicine from pharmacies at no cost to them. A person can order their items online, and a volunteer of A Faithful Few will pick up the groceries and deliver them to the person’s porch. Or a person can contact A Faithful Few with their grocery order to be picked up and delivered, and then, reimburse the volunteer for the purchased items only. This is an option for people who cannot get to a computer, Rivers said.

 

When schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Living Bridges Ministry immediately began providing meals to the community to help ensure more than 240 families were fed. Last week, 1,000 brown-paper sacks were given to residents supplying that day’s lunch, the next day’s breakfast and a snack in a drive-through fashion at the community center. Business donors have been Big Nick’s on Baytree, Jimmy John’s, Kelsey’s Bake Away, Chick-fil-A on Inner Perimeter Road, Barry Broome Allstate, Greater Valdosta United Way and Christi Marsh State Farm. Darcy Gunter, ministry co-founder, said more donations are requested as the need continues. Grocery store limits on purchasing items has constricted volunteers seeking to buy food for the giveaway. Gunter said Living Bridges goes through at least 20 loaves of bread per week.

 

Boredom can fuel inspiration. In Matt Garner’s case, he spent his time reading stories of people in New York City using 3-D printers to make protective masks for health care workers treating COVID-19 patients. He had a revelation in the midst of his ennui. “Wait, I’ve got a 3-D printer now. I can do that,” Garner said. The 28-year-old staff sergeant at Moody Air Force Base went on the National Institute of Health website and found an NIH-approved design to start printing medical masks. Only able to print three to four masks a day, he started a GoFundMe website to make and donate more masks.