Within the first few weeks of the pandemic, nourish.NJ received a frantic call from a man named Nathan living in Philadelphia. He worked in a medical facility and was not sure if he had been exposed to COVID, at the time so little was known about the virus. He called and tearfully explained that he usually grocery shopped for his father, Oscar, every Saturday. Now he was afraid to do so, but his father needed food. He explained he called several other places and was told his father either did not fit into their criteria, they were unable to drop off food, or that they were currently closed due to the virus. He started calling local churches to see if they could help and they gave him the number to nourish.NJ.
When Nathan was told the nourish.NJ staff would happily drop off food to his father, he burst into tears. The Outreach team delivered food every week, and Nathan called to thank them minutes after each drop-off.
As the pandemic progressed and more was learned about how to stay safe, Nathan resumed making shopping trips for Oscar, and no longer needed the drops offs. Now that he’s able to see his father again, Nathan called nourish.NJ to thank them for stepping in when he couldn't.