SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN to improve grocery home delivery now!
Hello and welcome to our newest petitioners, together we are 427 people strong today! Thank you for your support towards other Canadians!
Our petition focus has now changed to: Improve grocery home delivery for seniors & vulnerable people during COVID-19.
This is because most large chain Canadian grocery stores and pharmacies now have protected shopping hours for elderly and vulnerable people!
NOW IT IS TIME FOR A SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN!
Please share this petition on all of your social media platforms, particularly Twitter and Facebook, so that we can keep the pressure up and make these changes ASAP. We need to be faster than COVID-19!
CLICK HERE TO RETWEET THIS PETITION
Here are the Twitter handles for all of the grocery chains whom we are petitioning:
@WalmartCanada @SafewayCanada @RexallDrugstore @costcocanada @ShopprsDrugMart @saveonfoods @LoblawsON @LondonDrugs @Sobeys
Use the hashtags #COVID2019 and #helpseniors
In addition to a social media campaign, we will deliver the following letter, copied below, to all chains via email/website contact forms. You can help us by copying and customizing the letter and sending this to the following emails or links:
cacustrel@wal-mart.com
customer.care.ontario@sobeys.com
https://www.safeway.ca/contact/
https://www.rexall.ca/contact-us
https://customerservice.costco.ca/app/ask
https://www.londondrugs.com/contact-us/
https://www.saveonfoods.com/contact-us/
https://www1.shoppersdrugmart.ca/en/contact-us
https://www.loblaws.ca/contact-us
Thank you for your continued support and we hope these changes will be made soon to assist Canadian seniors and vulnerable people!
Jovi and Curtis �
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Dear [Grocery or Pharmacy Chain],
We are writing to ask you to improve your home delivery options for seniors and vulnerable people.
Seniors and people with chronic medical conditions are most vulnerable to COVID-19. As concerned citizens, we are very pleased to hear that your grocery chain has created protected time for seniors and vulnerable people to complete their shopping needs.
However, we feel that equitable home delivery options for your products to seniors and vulnerable people remains a critically important issue that has not yet been addressed by your grocery chain.
As per direction from the Government of Canada, every person who exhibits respiratory symptoms will now be self-isolating at home. They have been directed by the Public Health Agency of Canada to “arrange grocery delivery to their doorstep”. This is in addition to the broad recommendation for those who are asymptomatic to stay home, which particularly applies to those most vulnerable to COVID-19 to stay safe.
As you know, many necessary items are inaccessible (such as toilet paper or cleaning products) and options for grocery delivery/pickup have been difficult to access due to increased demand.
We are concerned that there are a significant number of seniors and vulnerable people who are now (or soon to be) self-isolating at home, who may not have healthy friends or relatives who can do their grocery shopping for them and leave it on their doorstep.
As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses in severity, there will be more and more people in self-isolation and as per government direction, all of these citizens should not be leaving their homes for any reason.
This leaves seniors and vulnerable people in a difficult situation if they need groceries, prescriptions, or supplies urgently, because they and everyone around them has to self-isolate.
While many people have been stocking up in case they might need to self-isolate for many days, not all seniors and vulnerable people will be able to do this on their own. This is particularly challenging for people who live on their own, do not have access to a car, or are frail and cannot carry large amounts of groceries to their homes.
We urge you to consider creating delivery options for your products that are specifically designed for seniors and vulnerable people to access, particularly as these citizens are going to be most hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and they are also least able to stock up. Some options could include a telephone hotline where seniors and vulnerable people can call to create a grocery order over the phone, which is then delivered to their doorstep by your personnel.
These measures would relieve vulnerable citizens from having to choose between risking their health and the health of other shoppers and employees in your stores, and not having necessary food and supplies.
To support our request, we have attached a petition signed by 427 people as of March 25, 2020.
Please do keep us informed of the measures you plan to take to improve access to your products. We appreciate your generosity and consideration towards our most vulnerable citizens.
Sincerely,
[Dr. Jovi Wong and Curtis May] and/or [Your Name]
On behalf of Petition: https://www.change.org/helpseniors