Luzerne County Councilman still offering shopping help for vulnerable homebound amid coronavirus

Elderly Luzerne County residents more at risk of coronavirus don’t have to leave their homes to shop for food and other essentials because of help provided by county Councilman Matthew Vough and about a dozen volunteers.

A Pittston resident, Vough started offering shopping assistance about three weeks ago and said approximately 10 families or senior citizens from throughout the Wyoming Valley have accepted the invitation so far.

“These elderly people are living alone and honestly are pretty scared and overwhelmed,” said Vough, 27. “They’re afraid to leave their houses, and we don’t want them to.”

Some need more cleaning supplies and toiletries, but most want the volunteers to pick up some basic food essentials, including meat they can freeze.

This weekend, he is set to complete a second shopping trip for someone running low on some items again.

The residents text a list of items they need. Volunteers call them when they are leaving the store and provide the dollar amount so both the groceries and payment can be left at the front door without human contact, Vough said.

One of the volunteers, a dentist who does not want to be identified, donated protective masks and gloves for volunteers to safeguard themselves and the homebound residents they are assisting, he said.

The volunteers also have collectively paid for about $600 in purchases for residents unable to pay due to job losses or other fiscal struggles stemming from the pandemic, Vough said.

Recipients of the volunteer shopping service included a family of four forced to quarantine because one of the parents has coronavirus, he said. Vough said he teamed up with Uncle Joe’s Pizza and Subs in Pittston, which donated a tray of pizza to this family.

Vough said he is trying to publicize the service so more people know it available, not because he is “looking for a pat on the back.”

Those interested in helping or in need of shopping assistance should send him a private message through his Facebook page or email him at [email protected] or [email protected].

The response he has received from volunteers is a rare bright spot in the sadness of the pandemic, which has claimed the lives of 12 county residents to date, he said.

“To see everyone coming together to help their neighbors out, I think we were missing that,” Vough said, noting he never met the residents he is helping before he started the service. “Maybe this is something good that will come out of this.”

In his original March 23 announcement about the shopping service, Vough also had publicly called for his peers to practice social distancing and follow other coronavirus precautions to protect the older generation.

Vough said those he knows in his age group are “taking it seriously,” wearing face coverings outside and only going out for essential purposes.

Unable to gather in person, they now meet virtually most nights, mainly through the online Zoom platform, so they can still see each other from afar and share updates on what’s happening in their lives and how they are coping, he said.

“We’ve all never seen anything like this,” Vough said of the pandemic. “We look forward to the day we can all get together again.”