How Islanders are looking after each other in the face of COVID-19

While COVID-19 is causing Islanders to isolate from each other to prevent the spread of the virus,it's also causing communities to come together, making sure that no one feels alone.

A number of Islanders have gone out of their way to help those who may be impacted by the virus, offering everything from free coffeeto a quick chat.

Here are just some of the ways that Islanders are looking after each other during COVID-19

Free coffee and donut delivery

Bakin' Donuts, a coffee shop in Summerside, closed itsdining room in accordance with the recommendation from the chief public health officer.That meant seniors in the community weren't able to make their routine visit to the coffee shop.

"We thought, well, they come in all the time for their coffee and their little snack. So, let's reach out to them and see if we can bring them a coffee and a snack and give them a little wave and help them out," said Kim Chiheb, the shop's general manager.

Seniors call the storeand then everything is packaged by staff at the shop. It is then delivered and left on the doorstep.

Drivers call the residents, letting them know their care package has arrived.

The response from those getting the coffee and donuts makes it all worthwhile forChiheb.

"It's so heartwarming," she said.

Lunches for kids

Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, John Pritchard, from Pure Kitchen Catering in Charlottetown, was involved with the provincial school lunch pilot program.

"So when this happened. I kind of thought, you know, what's going to happen to these kids who were relying on this," he said.

"The more I thought about it kind of started bothering me, and I woke up one morning around [5 a.m.] and I wrote a post and fired it out on Facebook saying, you know to start, what we can do is we can offer 100 free meals a week."

The fact that everybody is sort of pulling together this way ... is a real testamentto this end of the country and to just kind of humanity in bad times- John Pritchard

Pritchard and his family run the business from home.In order to make sure everything is as safe as possible for the food prep, they no longer leave the house, making sure deliveries are sanitized before they come in and not allowing anyone else inside the home.

He said while he had a number of people reach out to him to take him up on the lunches, he also had people offering up any support they could, from money to their time to help deliver the food.

"I think the community as a whole, they want to feel that they're doing something, that they're contributing if they can," he said.

And Pritchard said this is just the start. He hopes to expand the program to anyone who needs a warm meal in coming weeks.

"The fact that everybody is sort of pulling together this way ... is a real testamentto this end of the country and to just kind of humanity in bad times," he said.

"Even at such a time whenwe're being told to stay away from each other, somehow it's bringing us all closer together."

Over 200 pizzas

Health-care workers at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown and Prince County Hospital in Summerside were treated to lunch and dinner, courtesy of Domino's Pizza locations on the Island.

In total, the locations in Charlottetown sent over 200 pizzas to the hospital in one day.

"Sometimes you just want to put a smile on someone else's face," said Jona Lino Mckenna, district manager for Domino's Pizza on P.E.I.

The stores worked with the hospital, organizing how to best deliver them to make sure everything was as safe and sanitary as possible.

She said the response she got from staff at the hospital made it all worthwhile.

"Someone messaged meand said, 'Thank you for the generosity, ... when you're tired like this and you receive a pizza like this it makes you feel a little bit better.'"

'Finding different ways to connect with one another'

Stratford councillors are making themselves available to chat with their residents.

While this might be a normal part of their day, these conversations have nothing to do with politics. They're calling just to chat.

The idea came from Wendy Watts, community and business engagement manager with the Town of Stratford. She said the town was thinking about those in the community who were most vulnerable to the isolation and wanted to do something for those residents.

"Most of us are doing a lot less of that regular kind of stuff. So I think we're all looking to figure out how we can connect with each other," she said.

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