HARTFORD, Conn — The Community Renewal Team delivers hundreds of meals a day to seniors in need, but with the current COVID-19 pandemic, things have changed.
Gariann Chiarella is the Director of Nutrition for CRT, she said, “Normally our drivers would go into a lot of clients’ homes and place the meal for them and have that day to day conversation with them and then leave. But because of this, obviously, we don’t want to go into anyone’s home, so we are either handing a bag off to them as they just open the door or we’re leaving it on the handle.”
CRT has already delivered over 26,000 meals in the past two days, with each box containing 7 days’ worth of meals. According to CRT, each client got three boxes.
Chiarella said, “This is vital if there is an emergency for some reason and we couldn’t do our day-to-day operation this will hold them and carry them over and supply a meal for them for 21 days.”
Drivers like Kimberly Carmichael says she calls ahead to make sure the food is received.
Carmichael says having to deliver meals without the day-to-day interaction is an adjustment.
Carmichael said, “It’s hard because a lot of them say that we make their day but a lot of them make our day.”
Many seniors CRT serves are a part of an “at-risk” community which worries drivers like Carmichael, but according to drivers we spoke to the don’t mind putting themselves on the front lines.
Carmichael said, “Better me go out and do it than them not have any food because a lot of the people I deliver to don’t have food, so when I bring them stuff they’re happy sometimes I’m the only person that they see for days.”
CRT says they are going to continue to deliver meals for as long as they can and as safely as they can as time continues.