By Gerri Miller
Staff Writer
Hospital workers, first responders and many others are often working long shifts during this health crisis, leaving few precious hours to do things such as pick up groceries. When they do make it to the grocery store, they often find the stores have run out of essential items they need such as bread or milk.
A local service, however, can help make those long workdays a little less stressful.
The Autauga County Emergency Management Agency, the Prattville YMCA, and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), have teamed up to provide grocery store pickup and delivery for hospital staff, first responders and senior adults in Autauga and Elmore County.
Here is how the program works:
- Choose your grocery store. You can place your order online at shopatpigglywiggly.com (Pine Level location for Autauga County residents or the Wetumpka location for Elmore County residents) or through the Wal-Mart grocery app Millbrook location. (Autauga and Elmore County residents)
- Call to let them know you have placed an order. Autauga County residents call (334) 306-2404 and Elmore County residents call (334) 300-0316.
- Receive your groceries. They will call you once they arrive at your residence and will place the groceries where you request.
Prattville YMCA Chief Executive Officer David Lewis said the Y had been doing a variation of the program since mid-March. “We were working with our senior members to get them what they needed and even driving a member to a doctor’s appointment,” he said.
Lewis said he found out that the EMA was doing a similar program so the organizations joined forces to provide services to more residents. He said he anticipates that a surge of hospitalizations in the next two weeks could possibly change the landscape even more.
Lewis said the Y has distributed flyers advertising the service through the area and has placed the information on its digital billboards.
EMA Director Ernie Baggett said the organization is looking to expand the service to dialysis patients using its rural transportation program. “A lot depends on what the Governor says on Friday in her COVID-19 announcement,” Baggett said. “We will them look at where we stand and what we need to do from there.”
Baggett said the project has 30 volunteers from the combined agencies. He said it is important that they try to limit contact between the volunteers and the clients. Volunteers do not ring the doorbells-groceries are placed outside and the residents pick them up there.
Lewis said the Y is also providing additional services such as emergency childcare for essential employees at the Bradford Branch on McQueen Smith Road.
“We are trying to do what we can to help our community,” Lewis said. “We have the capacity to help, so we are trying our best to fill in the gaps.”
