All around the country, young people are helping those at high risk for complications from COVID-19 manage their daily tasks. While there are plenty of stubborn seniors who won’t stay home, those who understand the risks to both themselves and others are happily accepting these good deeds.

The grocery store is one place that holds a lot of risk for infection and yet is necessary for everyone.

When Montgomery Blair High School sophomore Dhruv Pai realized that his grandparents were scared to leave home to grocery shop, he offered to do it for them.

And that got him thinking that it’s a service that many other people in his area may need.

“My grandparents are in a vulnerable age, their vulnerable population, so are my neighbors. So they didn’t want to go to the grocery store to get groceries. So I offered to do it for them and then I realized a lot of people could be in a similar situation. That’s what incentivized me to create such a service,” Pai explained to the local public access station Montgomery Community Media.

That service is now known as “Teens Helping Seniors” and it provides no-contact grocery deliveries to senior citizens as well as other high-risk community members.

Technically, we’re all at risk when we go out. But while there have been young people who have contracted the virus – and those who have even died from it – they’re in a relatively low-risk group for complications as long as they’re healthy.

Of course, even if they do contract the virus and go symptom-free, they still risk spreading it to their own families and others they’re around.

There’s no way to avoid risk for those who leave their homes, but the teens involved in this project do take precautions. They wear gloves, wipe down the groceries they buy, and offer curbside pick up or porch delivery in order to practice safe social distancing. Payment is collected just as carefully.

When their story first aired on public television a few weeks ago, there were 5 teens from 3 different high schools involved and they were hoping to sign up more volunteers since schools are still closed.

Montgomery Blair High sophomore Matt Casdertano was the second to sign up and issued a plea to his local peers:

“Teens who are watching this right now, I want to say if you’re interested in an opportunity to help out your community, to help out your friends, your neighbors, your relatives, and then you know, it would be great if you would join us if you could help us because we feel like we’re really gonna make a big difference with this project.”

Of course, they’re not the only teens helping out their fellow neighbors.

Plenty of news about similar young good samaritans has spread far and wide over the last few weeks – and many of them are creating sophisticated networks of volunteers.

While there are formal grocery delivery services in many areas, employees have gone on strike at Instacart and Shipt because their companies won’t provide hazard pay or even minimal protective gear to keep them safe. In addition, these services often charge more for groceries and many seniors and other vulnerable people who are on fixed incomes can’t pay premium prices for basic needs.

The teens, on the other hand, aren’t treating this like a job – in most cases, it’s simply a good deed that pays in good karma.

Be sure to scroll down below to see an interview with Mongomery County teens forming their own volunteer network.

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Source: myMCMedia via YouTube, Montgomery Community Media