Responding to the Coronavirus

Dear Community,

In the past few weeks, the world’s attention has turned to the Coronavirus outbreak. As of the time of this writing, there are two confirmed cases in New York City, and I’m writing to share with you our response and plan of action. We hope to be a source of calm and strength at this time of uncertainty. As always, God’s Love is committed to doing everything we can to support the safety and health of our clients, volunteers, and staff.

For Our Clients

Our clients’ health is our highest priority. We are now ordering, and will soon be delivering, one week’s worth of shelf-stable food for clients in the event that we are not able to deliver. Along with this, we are cooking and will deliver extra high-protein soups for clients to keep in their freezers.

We have a long history of rising to emergencies — from sending meals to the emergency workers at the World Trade Center site following 9/11, or the “Sandy Bags” we built and delivered to our clients in the days after Hurricane Sandy. Our community remains committed, as ever, to ensuring our clients get what they need.

At God’s Love

Here in our facility, we have enhanced our sanitation measures: we have antibacterial wipes in all of our conference rooms and pantries, and our Facilities team is sanitizing doorknobs, surfaces, and rooms in our building more frequently. We are also ensuring that our Delivery vans are stocked with alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and that our staff and volunteers engaged in deliveries are sanitizing their hands both before and after each delivery. While we thank our thousands of volunteers for their dedication, we do ask that you continue to practice the strictest of food safety measures and, if you feel sick at all, please stay home and do not come in for your shift.

We remind our community of the CDC’s recommendations of the following steps we can all take which will limit exposure to the Coronavirus:

• Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. You can also use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if no soap and water is available.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Stay home when you are sick, to protect yourself, co-workers and others with whom you’re in contact.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently-touched objects and surfaces.
• Keep your immune system strong. This includes getting a flu shot to help you from getting the flu, getting enough sleep, and eating well.

We ask that you keep our clients in your hearts. Just as we are facing uncertainty and concern, so, too, are they.

We are today, as always, grateful to the many hands and hearts that make our operation run. We will continue to keep you updated, and if you have any questions or concerns, please email us. Thank you for your ongoing generosity and support.