Salvation Army, Central Coast Rescue Mission raise social distancing awareness to homeless through food delivery
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The Salvation Army and the Central Coast Rescue Mission are collaborating to help the community during the coronavirus outbreak.
Volunteers with the rescue mission are picking up meals prepared at The Salvation Army to deliver to those homeless who are not currently staying at a shelter.
Volunteers with the agencies say they are noticing that homeless people huddling together are not realizing the dangers of the coronavirus.
Crews with the agencies hope that while delivering free meals they can encourage the homeless to maintain social distancing.
The two agencies are preparing hundreds of meals for the homeless to deliver at 12 p.m. on Friday.
As the coronavirus pandemic worsens, many who are homeless continue to huddle in groups.
So The Salvation Army is working with the Central Coast Rescue Mission with the hope to change this.
"So many on the streets don't know the dangers of coronavirus. So by feeding them we're able to let them know that there are places they can be that are safe," said Jon Bronkowski with the Central Coast Rescue Mission.
Dozens of volunteers from both agencies are preparing meals for the homeless who are not staying in shelters.
"The find security in groups. Their friends are together and they are trying to comfort each other like all of us trying to figure out what's going on. But they don't seem to understand the dangers of being close together," said Patricia Torres with The Salvation Army.
In addition to helping the homeless with free meals, they're also explaining the importance of social distancing to them.
"Yes. Aside from the food we're trying to teach them that it's safe if they're six feet away but just not huddle together," said Torres.
Since the coronavirus outbreak The Salvation Army has increased food deliveries from 200 to more than 500 meals throughout the week.
The agencies believe it's a critical time to continue partnering with one another in order to enhance social distancing awareness throughout the community.
