By Latrishka Thomas
In an effort to minimise physical contact between individuals – and reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus – two local businesswomen are joining forces to not only encourage more people to stay inside but to ensure the elderly and vulnerable have all the goods they need.
“We very strongly believe that once we are able to distance ourselves socially and stay at home, we can help fight this virus. So we are very strongly advocating for people staying at home and staying inside,” the owner of Pending Delivery, Donna Matthew, told Observer.
And partnering with Pending Delivery is Packed Grocery Delivery, winner of last year’s entrepreneur competition ‘GES Hackathon’.
CEO of Packed Grocery Delivery, Chaneil Imhoff, said the aim is “to ensure that our essential workers, our senior citizens, and our busy moms and dads who are at home are able to order their groceries in a safe and secure manner.”
Imhoff and Matthew explained that using their online platforms, which are powered by Paymeal, persons can “choose either a pre-packaged bundle, select a grocery list or choose from the groceries that we have listed so far.”
Persons will be able to select items which will then be purchased using the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 shopping guidelines from any supermarket and pharmacy and have their goods delivered to their home.
But most importantly, the business women stated that the elderly and disabled in the community will be a priority.
“It is not about running a profit. It’s not about seeking money at this point in time. It’s about protecting our vulnerable communities especially. Because you know, you’re going through town, and you’re going through the different supermarkets and in there is packed to the brim,” Imhoff stated.
The service will be available as of today. Interested persons can visit packed.store or pending-delivery.com to fill out a form or submit their shopping list.
Persons can also call Imhoff at 785-0756 or Matthew at 788-1000.
Packed Grocery Delivery not only won plaudits in the 2019 Hackathon but it was also placed third in the Caribbean Tech Entrepreneurship Programme (CTEP). It was also in the top 100 in the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC).