Aug 13

Aug 13 Community builder: Sacramento's Paratransit drives Sacramento's food relief effort

Giving back to the community, Supporting Sacramento's health

This is the first in a periodic series highlighting Sacramento residents and organizations who are responding to the Covid crisis by building community and making extraordinary contributions to others.

Volunteers meet at Paratransit to help deliver meals

Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, Paratransit, Inc. provided rides and independence for seniors and those with limited mobility options. With the Governor’s stay at home orders, Paratransit’s team pivoted to keep their drivers employed and serve our most vulnerable populations with food delivery.

Paratransit’s services have been the backbone of the City of Sacramento’s Great Plates Delivered program. In partnership with United Cerebral Palsy, their drivers have delivered over 200,000 meals to seniors most at risk.

Paratransit, Inc. also provides dispatch and routing services to make the entire delivery system work with pickups at over 40 restaurants and delivery to 1,100 seniors every day.

They have delivered another 39,000 meals to school sites and non-profit centers as part of a separate partnership with local chefs and the Family Meal Program and another 152,000 meals to eligible seniors and families on behalf of the Sacramento Food Bank. Paratransit, Inc. also stepped in to deliver several thousand pre-cooked meals from local restaurant Broderick Roadhouse to Sacramento State students on campus.

Add it all up, and Paratransit and its team have delivered 400,000 meals since mid-May.

A loan from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) enabled Paratransit to donate its services to the various meal programs through July 30, 2020.

The donation of services during that period will help offset the local government match required by FEMA as part of the Great Plates Delivered program. The City now contracts with Paratransit, Inc. for the deliveries with the costs paid for by the program budget. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is footing 75 percent of the cost of the program, which is currently scheduled to conclude Sept. 9. The state of California is paying 18.75 percent, and the city is providing a required 6.25 percent local match.

“Since the Shelter in Place order began in March, Paratransit, Inc. has been proud to take a leadership role in ensuring that our seniors and others in need receive access to food throughout this pandemic,” said Chief Executive Officer Tiffani Fink. “We’re grateful to be a part of the critical work to keep our community fed and healthy and are looking forward to providing support for additional COVID-19 recovery efforts in the months to come.”