Shopping for other people | Offenbach

• ofEast Tinç

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A long-term offer of help has developed in the Offenbach volunteer center. Quarantined people rarely call.

In the Offenbach Volunteer Center (FZOF) they are only called the 13 muscle animals. Students, people who mainly work in the home office and retirees who regularly go shopping for ten people. “There are many people who need help regardless of Corona,” says Sigrid Jacob, the head of the FZOF. At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring, people who belong to the risk group and did not want to or could not go outside turned to the volunteer center. “After the lockdown, many of our helpers said: we’ll just keep shopping for people,” reports Jacob. The result is a long-term shopping aid that is now starting with the pilot team in Offenbach’s city center.

The calls from people who are in quarantine, however, are limited. It’s four to six calls a week. “If you see the quarantine numbers in Offenbach, you would think that there are a lot more,” says Jacob. This is currently around 1,800 people. But there is apparently an invisible neighborhood help system that works well, Jacob suspects. While younger people organize themselves via social networks and ask for help in Facebook groups, older people would prefer to call. “They see us as a filter and thus feel more secure,” reports Jacob.

Corona has changed the need for help

In the case of the shopping aid, the buyers make advance payments, take photos of the receipt and bring the purchase to the front door. You will then receive the money either in cash, by bank transfer or via the online payment service PayPal. “If somebody didn’t pay, the buyers would get the money from us,” says Jacob. But that has not yet happened. Only a few misunderstandings in communication had happened, nothing that couldn’t be clarified by a phone call. However, the need for help has already changed due to Corona. It is increasingly younger people who turn to the FZOH. A whole flat share has already been provided for.

More than 300 people have registered as helpers since the first lockdown in March, 120 of them are actively involved. For more active people, the effort for the center would simply be too great. “The pre-Christmas season is the heyday of engagement,” says Jacob. Many would reflect and would like to do something for children or the elderly. However, due to Corona and the contact restrictions, a lot is falling into the water. “What is there is willingness to donate,” says the FZOH director.

In order to make the voluntary commitment even more visible, the volunteer center has started an Advent window campaign. Selected organizations and institutions that get involved will receive a sticker with the date of their day of action and could decorate a window that is visible to the public. The decorations should stay until Christmas.

The shopping aid project will of course continue after Christmas.

The volunteer center has existed since 2002 and is financed by the city of Offenbach through projects and donations. Further information is available at www.fzof.de or on 06982367039.

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