Now, more than ever, Food & Friends needs your financial support. I am asking you to please make a gift today. Many of our seriously ill clients have no other food option without our deliveries and are the most at-risk if forced to leave their homes.
I know you are receiving many requests for support. I want you to know that your gift of any amount to Food & Friends is critically needed to help us continue home-delivering meals during this time.
Can I count on you to help us face this enormous responsibility? Fifty percent of our clients are over the age of 50. Twenty-five percent are in the 65+ demographic. Many were homebound long before the COVID-19 pandemic. They are high-risk and cannot cook for themselves, much less get to the grocery store. Their livelihoods depend on us. We depend on you.
After declaring Food & Friends an essential service in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Mayor Bowser held a press conference at Food & Friends yesterday. She provided city-wide updates and brought attention to essential services, including the important role of our meal deliveries during this crisis.
As our operations evolve during changing mandates, I will continue to provide you with weekly updates on how Food & Friends is responding during this crisis. For now, we have moved to no-contact deliveries as an added precaution to protect the health of our clients. We also have ordered additional shelf-stable food to deliver as-needed and our staff is helping in the kitchen to cover volunteer shortages.
But the truth is, these necessary and immediate changes are costly.
Your generous support today is absolutely crucial. Please donate now. I am so grateful.
Take good care of yourself and your community,
Carrie Stoltzfus, MPH
Executive Director
P.S. Please share this letter on social media, by email, or in your next telework meeting. The more people who hear our message and can help, the better.