By Josh Hall and Sheldon Spackman

Meeting Community Needs

The Lending Cupboard still meeting community needs despite pandemic

Sep 2, 2020 | 4:06 PM

Despite lingering health concerns, The Lending Cupboard in Red Deer has managed to maintain its commitment to the community of lending out much-needed medical equipment and supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Executive Director Dawna Morey says it’s important for them to be up-and-running and still serving clients from all over central Alberta in these unprecedented times.

“The need is definitely still there and we’re still seeing a lot of clients, but we’re doing it a little differently,” she explains. “Right now, we are doing everything by appointment only. Although we do have people that come to the door, unfortunately, we’re not allowing anybody in to the building presently.”

Morey says what they do in those circumstances is take the person’s order outside the building, then bring it to them.

“Of course we’re doing all the things we need to be doing around our protocols within the building,” adds Morey. “We have less than 15 people at any time, and that includes our staff and volunteers and anybody else that has to come into the building. Staff are all masked and wearing shields and practicing the safe distancing with the hand sanitizer at all times.”

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Morey notes it’s important for The Lending Cupboard (TLC) to inform the community of their increased standards of infection prevention controls.

“It’s always been high, but we took extra steps because of COVID-19 and have now started taking all of the returns of any equipment that’s been out in the community through the back end of our facility where we’ve had to retrofit our building and to accommodate those changes,” says Morey. “Equipment goes immediately into a sanitizer where it gets blasted with some chemicals that will make sure that there’s nothing on it.”

Morey says The Lending Cupboard has benefited from great support this year, including from Vancouver-based Nude Beverages, someone from Alabama and more traditional sources as well.

“We received support from the federal government – down through the Community Foundations of Canada and our local Community Foundations,” she remarks. “We also received some funding from the Red Deer and District Community Foundation to buy additional equipment before we started being able to take equipment back. The shelves were beginning to find some gaps in them.”

Morey points out that their new health protocols, however, also mean their phone lines have been busy.

“On average, between 450 calls a week and three days a week,” reveals Morey. “That means it’s all hands on deck, including myself answering the phone, taking orders, and making sure that the equipment is ready for when the client needs it and they come and they pick it up.”

Since the second half of March – when the Lending Cupboard started recording their statistics, Morey says they answered over 7,800 calls.

“That’s phone calls, emails, text messages,” says Morey. “That’s with clients, with health care professionals. And we’ve had over 5,800 pieces of equipment that have been processed and served over 2,700 new clients.”

She acknowledges the need for medical equipment doesn’t go down, despite the pandemic.

“You know, those little kids are still breaking bones and needing air boots and wheelchairs,” she exclaims. “In one case, we had one little one that was having surgery on both of her feet, so needed a wheelchair and two air casts. It runs the gamut – anything from surgeries, to emergency situations, to just regular home care.”

For more information on The Lending Cupboard and its upcoming fundraising events such as their TLC Survivor, visit lendingcupboard.ca.