Veronica Avalos could barely make out the words coming from the thin voice on other side of the window. Words of gratitude and words of relief, words masked by fear, apprehension and quiet desperation.
Words that ordinarily would generate a compassionate response — assuming times were even remotely ordinary.
"For me, I'm someone who likes to give people a hug, to touch them and hold their hand, not communicate through a window where there's a barrier between us," Avalos said. "That was really difficult for me. Trying to talk to someone through a window isn't normal, and it really shocked me. I could barely hear her, but I could feel her love for what we'd done. And then I thought, 'OK, who's the next person?'"
Abbie Rieder knew who the next person was, and the list was growing. A list comprised of the elderly, the infirmed and the immunocompromised, those whose world had been forever changed by a virus known as COVID-19, those whose once-routine forays into public places were now in a limbo with a lockdown.
Weeks earlier, Rieder, a junior midfielder with San Diego State's women's soccer team, had learned of a non-profit program called "Leave It To Us," a venture started by a University of Alabama student living in Chicago. The program is designed to provide groceries to seniors and others who are homebound due to the pandemic.
Rieder, a biology major at SDSU, was initially apprised of the program by a friend from Los Angeles, who suggested she start a "Leave It To Us" chapter in San Diego. Rieder heeded the call, recruiting teammates Avalos, a senior forward, and senior midfielder/forward Malia Kaleiohi, to assist in putting her plan into action.
"Soccer was really taking up the majority of my time, probably close to 20 hours a week," Rieder said. "But without soccer, I just felt really compelled to do something, because time is a gift."
Moreover, Rieder, who is doing a summer internship in pediatrics at Children's Healthcare Medical Associates in Hillcrest, had the benefit of having prior experience shopping for others, bringing groceries to the home of her older sister, Emily Thurston, a nurse practitioner whose husband, Stephen, is a physician's assistant at Scripps in La Jolla. The Thurstons have a one-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son.
"I was talking to Abbie about how I didn't want to have to go to the grocery store, because I obviously don't want to expose our kids during COVID," said Emily Thurston, who also works at Children's Healthcare Medical Associates. "So she went to the store for us. I'd rather pay her than use Instacart or some other platform, and it worked out really well. Our kids haven't been to a store since this all started. We go for walks and things, but we're obviously not going to take them around high-risk areas.
"Obviously, it takes a toll on you when you're at work, because you're worried about everyone having COVID. And then you're worried about getting it yourself and bringing it home to your family. It's completely changed what I do when I get home, which is to immediately change out of my scrubs and take a shower. There's a lot of increased anxiety in every household, but I think it's even higher in households where you have healthcare workers, because there's always the risk of getting it or being exposed to it. My husband is seeing COVID patients every day he goes to work, so he's definitely high risk. But we're both essential workers, so we don't have a choice but to go to work."
Others, of course, have little choice but to stay home, guarding against an unseen danger that has forced them to measure their every move. Initially speaking to the founder of "Leave It To Us" before undertaking the task of recruiting volunteers, Rieder quickly discovered that her service was in high demand. And after receiving coverage from a local TV station, the San Diego chapter of "Leave It To Us" took off.
"It was a bit of an effort on my part to get it off the ground, but I have to give it up to my teammates," said Rieder, who also has delivered groceries to the home of her brother, Joe Rieder, and his wife, who were initially reluctant to shop due to having a one-year-old son. "(My teammates) really gave me the confidence that this was something worth pursuing. It really all started with a couple of text messages to some teammates, telling them about the program and how it would work, how we could implement it here in San Diego and finding out about their willingness to help. They let me know that this was something that could really happen and be seen through, so I decided to go at it full force.
"I reached out to several pre-med organizations at SDSU and at Cal State San Marcos and got a lot of interest from people in those organizations who wanted to help. At that point, we started taking orders with maybe only 10 volunteers. But after our story was on TV, our (volunteer) numbers started growing exponentially. We now have about 50 volunteers, which is pretty crazy considering we had three (Rieder, Avalos and Kaleiohi) two months ago."
Indeed, the program has reached a stage where it has volunteers as far north as Oceanside, south to Chula Vista and east to El Cajon. Those wishing to utilize "Leave It To Us" are asked to send an e-mail to sdleaveittous@gmail.com, supplying Rieder with information about what groceries they need and where they want their groceries purchased, along with their address and phone number. Rieder then scans her list of volunteers, asking who can shop for a particular person, matching a prospective volunteer with a recipient living in the same geographical area and finding out how soon the volunteer can go shopping. All of the groceries are delivered outside of an individual's home to avoid contact. There is no fee for anything, save reimbursement for cost of the groceries.
"Seeing the devastation that was being brought before all of us as a community was definitely a motivating factor," Rieder said. "Now, having started this, the response from seniors has been incredible. They're just so genuinely thankful. They'll tell me things like, 'I'm just so appreciative of your services, because I'm afraid to go out, or I have HIV or hypertension or pneumonia.' There's just all of this co-morbidity that a lot of seniors have. But it's not just seniors, it can be anyone who is immunocompromised. Just being able to help them and offer our service is really rewarding. It really makes it all worth it.
"Sometimes, I wish that social distancing could just be put on pause, but you have to do what's best for the greater good. It's really nice being able to talk with them on the phone, because one of the most special things about this is that we're not just an Instacart where you download an app. This is personal. You're going to talk to me. I'm going to give you my cell number and you're going to call me and talk to a real person. I can assure you that I'm going to see it through and that you're going to get your groceries. And I'm more than happy to just talk, because I know that it can maybe help them have a brighter day."
And maybe come away a bit more informed. Rieder, who also volunteers at Palomar Hospital in Poway, has designs on becoming a pediatrician and plans on applying for medical school next year.
"A lot of times, people will talk to me about being immunocompromised and about their medical conditions, which is particularly rewarding for me because of my interest in medicine," she said. "I really enjoy those conversations.
"It's all definitely taught me a lot about myself. I honestly didn't even realize that I had this kind of drive in me, and how rewarding it is to do this. I would much rather have the intrinsic reward of serving people who are in need than having any kind of monetary reward for doing it. It's also helped me to work on my communication and staying organized, keeping my volunteers up to speed and remembering to give recognition where recognition is due. I'm really thankful to our volunteers, because without them, none of these orders would ever get completed.
"But being in a leadership position is different than anything I've ever done before. I've always been on the other end, where I've had coaches and professors, people that I'm reporting to. Being on the other end has really put things in perspective and helped me grow a lot."
The program also has caught the eye of donors, at least one of whom was interested in covering the cost of car insurance for the group's volunteers. Others have offered to provide donations for gas. Rieder said she is now in position to pay a volunteer $5 for completing an order, but that nearly all refuse compensation.
"I honestly didn't have much of an expectation when things first started," she said. "I just thought, 'Why not try it and see where it goes?' I definitely never expected it to get this big and become this well known in the community. I just feel privileged to be part of it.