Wollaston Township council has launched a grocery delivery program as part of a “harm reduction strategy.”
A special meeting of council was held to discuss the matter and council voted to approve the program. Municipal volunteers will pick-up groceries and drop them off on the porch for residents of Wollaston that can’t leave their homes due to self-isolating or quarantining. They say the program is only for groceries.
“The quarantined/isolated individual is responsible for placing and paying for the grocery order, and contacting the municipality to secure a delivery,” the Township explains. “A volunteer will be booked and then the volunteer will do a curbside pick-up and drop-off. Municipal staff will coordinate the program in partnership with local grocery stores who are currently offering this safer way to re-stock local shelves.”
“One of the biggest needs we have is to support people in completing safe quarantine and self-isolating periods,” Reeve of Wollaston Barb Shaw says. “The biggest reason people are going to break quarantine or self-isolation is to get food.”
Shaw adds that the only stores that are able to work within the program’s limits are Sayers Foods in Apsley and Foodland in Bancroft.
This is being done since they now have additional coverage to municipal volunteers due to declaring a state of emergency on March 27th. They are able to provide volunteers with WSIB coverage, which protects them if a workplace injury happens.
If you’re registered as a municipal volunteer with the Township and want to help, or are interested in signing up to become one, you’re being asked to call 613-337-5731 for more information.