Foundation for Senior Care

The measure of our humanity lies in how we treat the most vulnerable.[1]

ProtoStar is making a $5,000 restricted grant from its COVID-19 Relief Fund for Nonprofits to the Foundation for Senior Care for its Emergency Grocery Delivery Program.  In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation for Senior Care shifted its core services to focus primarily on a new Emergency Grocery Delivery Program to bring food, groceries, and personal hygiene items to seniors.  The grant will help pay for the recently added full-time delivery person (driver) and travel/fuel costs.

Effect of COVID-19 on the Foundation for Senior Care’s Core Services

The Foundation for Senior Care is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization.  Its general mission is “to provide programs and resources enabling seniors to enhance their well-being and give them a more meaningful life.”  It is located in Fallbrook, California, and services not only Fallbrook (population about 30,000), but also adjacent areas, including Bonsall, Rainbow, and De Luz.  The combined population of these areas totals approximately 50,000 people, many of whom are seniors aged 65 and over.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation for Senior Care operated four general programs:  (1) Care Van Transportation, which provided door-to-door transportation for seniors from their homes to various places, including medical appointments, grocery stores, and pharmacies; (2) Adult Day Care where seniors gathered together to socialize, enjoy entertainment, and take part in other leisure activities; (3) Senior Advocacy in which case managers provided emotional support for seniors on an individual basis; and (4) Computer Learning Center at which seniors learned the basics of the computer, Internet, and social media.

Because each one of the Foundation for Senior Care’s core services entailed in-person contacts with seniors, all of those programs had to be suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Seniors and those with underlying health issues are, of course, in the most vulnerable group and at high risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from COVID-19.

Contact-Free Emergency Grocery Delivery Program

Consequently, in March, the Foundation for Senior Care immediately pivoted from its core services to establish a new emergency grocery delivery program whereby a driver picks up food, groceries, and personal hygiene items and delivers them to the seniors’ homes while maintaining the appropriate social distancing protocols.  For seniors below the income poverty level for a single person (approximately $17,000 for the Fallbrook area), the Foundation for Senior Care picks up food and groceries from the Fallbrook Food Pantry (another of ProtoStar’s grantees) and delivers them to these seniors who may otherwise be food insecure.  For those above the income threshold, the Foundation for Senior Care shops for the requested items at a local supermarket and delivers them to the seniors’ homes.  While the latter group of seniors pays for the groceries, the Foundation for Senior Care does not charge for the pickup and delivery service.  It pays for the groceries in advance and even absorbs the 3% or so credit card processing fees when it is reimbursed for the groceries.

The Foundation for Senior Care plans to continue this pickup and delivery program at least through the end of 2020, even though, as of this writing, California is beginning to open up in stages.  Until testing and contact tracing are universally available, an effective vaccine is developed, and epidemiologists are satisfied that the Coronavirus is otherwise “under control,” seniors and those with underlying health issues remain susceptible to risks of serious illness or death from COVID-19.  Moreover, even when the Coronavirus is more under control, many seniors may still fear going out for groceries, medicines, and other essentials – a fear that is perfectly understandable.

Of course, in making these pickups and deliveries, the Foundation for Senior Care observes all of the appropriate social distancing protocols, such as wearing face coverings, washing hands frequently, and dropping the groceries on the senior’s front porch or other designated drop-off area.  However, because seniors, especially those living alone, may need some human interaction, the driver may engage in some limited conversations while maintaining at least a six-foot distance.

Social Impact

The Foundation for Senior Care estimates that, over this next three-month period through the end of August 2020, it will have served approximately 500 unique seniors in this Emergency Grocery Delivery Program, with about 1,000 deliveries and over 21,000 meals.  Of the 500 or so seniors, approximately 20-30% would have incomes below the poverty level.

ProtoStar’s Interests

This grant furthers ProtoStar’s Areas of Interest in Senior/Elder Care and Well-Being, as well as Socioeconomic Justice.  It also assists small nonprofit organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.  For more information, please visit ProtoStar’s COVID-19 Fund for Nonprofits.

More so now than ever, we encourage you to join us in supporting organizations that provide essential services to seniors.  You could help by contributing money, donating food, and/or volunteering your services.

[1]  ProtoStar would like to partially credit this statement to two people who had said something very similar.  Mahatma Ghandi is generally attributed with the quote: “A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.”  Ambassador Matthew Rycroft of the UK Mission said in his speech to the United Nations at the Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict, “How a society treats its most vulnerable is always the measure of its humanity.”