Cooperative Living January 2021 - 18

CoverFocus | by Gregg MacDonald, Staff Writer
B
A
During COVID-19,
This Corps Delivers
Eastern Shore volunteer group
worth its weight in toilet paper
A
s executive director of the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge and
Tunnel District, Jeff Holland
knows a thing or two about building
and maintaining bridges.
That's why, at the height of the
COVID-19 pandemic scare in March,
Holland saw the need for a program
to connect community leaders and
volunteers with those most in need in
Northampton and Accomack counties
on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
" I wanted to use the strength of the
community to aid those at the highest
risk, " he says.
As a result, Holland formed the
Shore Delivery Corps with the help
of his wife Penney, an A&N Electric
Cooperative board member, and Eastern
Shore stalwarts Susan Bear Mears,
Dr. Betty Bibbins, Accomack County
Supervisor Ron Wolff and others.
" I wanted to use
the strength of
the community
to aid those at
the highest risk. "
- Jeff Holland
The Corps, which went into action
in early April, is a nonprofit volunteer
group that provides free-of-charge
grocery and pharmacy deliveries to
elderly Eastern Shore residents, and
those who might be at the most risk
due to underlying health conditions.
GEOGRAPHIC CHALLENGE
" When we say we deliver to the
Eastern Shore, we mean the whole
Instituted enhanced safety procedures
in order to see more patients in person
once stay-at-home order lifted.
16 | Cooperative Living | January 2021
E
C
D
shore, " says Bibbins, a retired OB-GYN,
who helped found the Corps. " We deliver
from Kiptopeke to Chincoteague and
all 75 miles in between. "
Bibbins says the Corps keeps several
vans gassed up along that route, so that
volunteer drivers do not have to waste
time driving an hour or more to return
vehicles to one location when they are
finished with deliveries. " They can better
use that time helping others, " she says.
According to Holland, the first step
toward establishing the effort was to come
up with a name that best represented the
organization's goals.
" I thought to myself, 'What would
be the simplest, but most substantive
name?' " he says. " We came up with
Shore Delivery Corps. "
After recruiting other community
leaders and starting a leadership group,
the group began integrating local and
chain grocery stores, pharmacies,
community outreach organizations,
churches and schools. It created an
infrastructure of committees to run the
myriad operations.
" Being part of Shore Delivery Corps
has been very rewarding to me, " says
Free COVID-19 testing begins at Atlantic,
Eastville and Onley centers as joint effort
with Eastern Shore Health District.
Bear Mears, a teacher who found she
had extra time on her hands when
COVID-19 closed schools.
" I joined the volunteer recruitment
committee, and thanks to social media,
found it relatively easy to recruit many
dedicated volunteers. Of course,
contributing to our overall mission
by helping our neighbors on the Shore
is fulfilling, but I must say it's the
relationships that have been built with
the devoted volunteers that has meant
the most to me. "
HELPING HANDS
Holland says local college students
home from school due to the pandemic
were logical recruits as delivery volunteers.
" Statistically, they were at the lowest
risk, " he says. " Then, of course, we needed
funding. We were able to get $2,000 from
the United Way and then $25,000 from
the Eastern Shore of Virginia Community
Foundation. "
With additional donations, including
one from A&N Electric Cooperative,
Holland says the Corps raised nearly
$40,000 in no time.
" I immediately began working on
ESRHS complies with stateadopted
emergency standards
to prevent spread of COVID.
Wellness Assistants begin work
at each center to administer
COVID-19 safety procedures.
co-opliving.com
WEEK OF
JUNE 8
IN JULY
PHOTOS COURTESY SHORE DELIVERY CORPS
WEEK OF
OCT. 19
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living January 2021

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