Good Samaritan makes over 600 trips to the grocery store for seniors in his community during coronavirus pandemic
Since stay-at-home orders in New Jersey prompted Greg Dailey to close his picture frame shop on March 21, his second job became his primary source of income. Dailey has been delivering newspapers for over 25 years, but during the coronavirus pandemic he took on a larger responsibility than he ever expected.
Over the past few months, Dailey, 50, has kept himself busy delivering far more than newspapers. He's become a lifeline for senior citizens in his community who have been scared or unable to leave the house due to COVID-19.
Dailey’s grocery trips began when one of his elderly customers asked him for a favor.
“Mrs. Ross called me on the Wednesday prior to my store shutting down and asked if I would throw the newspaper closer to our house,” he tells Yahoo Life. “A couple of days later, I was standing in a grocery store, and I called her and asked if she needed anything from a grocery store. And she was blown away. She, of course, took me up on it. And moments later, she called me back and asked if I wouldn't mind grabbing something from Mrs. Miller across the street.”
Soon, Dailey's 800 customers found a note he wrote tucked in with their newspaper, offering his help. “And the next day I just decided, ‘You know, what? If there are two people that live within a hundred feet of each other are having issues getting the essential things they need. I'm going to put out a note.’” he said.
The word ending up spreading not only to his community but to surrounding ones. Since then, Dailey, with the help of his family, developed a system to keep track of the orders.
To date, Dailey has made more than 600 trips to the grocery store for his neighbors and delivered everything to their homes for free. “These last three months has changed my life….I get emotional because some of them have become really special to me,” he says.
Dailey reopened his store, Frames on Main and Legends Gallery in Chatham N.J., on June 15 but has pledged to continue to help seniors not only with groceries but with anything else they need. He knows those he currently helps will remain a part of his life going forward.
Dailey has also partnered with Love-A-Senior, a Florida-based organization that helps senior citizens and is serving as its regional director of operations, which he says is “going give me the ability to do so much more than shop and deliver groceries to seniors who need it.”
“It's moments like this, where we need to step back and take a look in ourselves and realize that we can do more….and it's something I live by,” Dailey says. “If you have the opportunity to do something nice for someone, just do it.”
For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC’s and WHO’s resource guides.
How to maintain your physical and mental health during the pandemic
Taking care of a loved one with COVID-19? Here’s how to stay healthy
Q&A with Dr. Kavita Patel: How to keep your family safe and maintain your mental health
Read more from Yahoo Life
Want daily lifestyle and wellness news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Life’s newsletter.
