IF YOU ARE ELDERLY AND IN NEED OF ESSENTIALS, DIAL...
1 800 718 226
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
1. Who does Neighbours Helping Neighbours help?
Neighbours Helping Neighbours help those most vulnerable to contracting the COVID-19 virus, the elderly on the age pension.
Everyone in the community is struggling to source essential items (e.g. toilet paper, hand soap, etc.), including our volunteers. Our priority is to assist the elderly who do not have help and are desperate for essential items. If you are elderly and have the support of family or carers please reach out to them before calling Neighbours Helping Neighbours.
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2. How does Neighbours Helping Neighbours verify that the receivers are truly desperate and on the age pension?
Neighbours Helping Neighbours operates on trust. We are aware that there are people who will attempt to take advantage of our kind-hearted volunteers. If we receive a call or message, that appears to be questionable, Neighbours Helping Neighbours will return the call to verify that the caller is genuine. Neighbours Helping Neighbours reserves the right to ask for the caller’s age pension number or senior card number. Neighbours Helping Neighbours reserves the right to reject calls that appear to be suspicious in nature.
3. How do I become a volunteer?
You can become a Neighbours Helping Neighbours volunteer by offering to bring spare items you have to those in need. If you have a spare roll of toilet paper, an extra roll of paper towels, a can of food, a box of pasta, an extra tube of toothpaste – you can be a volunteer! You can either walk, ride a bike, or drive to deliver the items.
You may NOT volunteer if one or all of the following apply to you:
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You have a criminal background - of ANY type.
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You are feeling unwell
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You have travelled interstate or overseas in the past 14-days
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You are an elderly person or a person with an underlining health issue
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You have had contact with someone who has a confirmed case of COVID-19
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You are in quarantine
4. Where can I find the Neighbours Helping Neighbours flyer?
The PDF flyer can be found by hovering your mouse over "How It Works" tab at the top of the page. You will see a drop-down list. Choose "Flyer."
5. I am unable to print flyers at home. What can I do?
Don’t have enough paper? Don’t have enough ink? Don’t own a printer? That's OK! You can still help.
If you are unable to print flyers at home, then you may:
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Place the PDF version of the flyer on a flash drive and print the flyers at Officeworks
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Ask a friend to print flyers for you
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Ask a small business to print the flyers for you
6. I am unable to pass out flyers. How else can I help?
Call your friends or family members who are elderly (pension age) and tell them about our organisation. Ask them to make phone calls to help spread the word.
7. What happens when I call the hotline phone number?
After dialing the 1-800 number, you will hear a voice recording. First, Press 1, to listen to Neighbours Helping Neighbours Terms and Conditions. Then, Press 2, to leave a message. SPEAK SLOWLY AND CLEARLY! Spell out your street name and suburb. If we cannot understand your recording, we cannot help.
8. I called the helpline, left a message, and no one helped. What happened?
Give it some time. Your call must first be received and then communicated via our Facebook Group. On average, you should receive help within 24-48 hours.
Either of the following most likely happened if no one came to help:
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No one in your area had additional supplies of the item you requested to share at the time of your call; or
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Your voice message was not clear and Neighbours Helping Neighbours was not able to identify your location.
If you think this may be the reason, please call again. -
There are no volunteers in your area at this time. BUT, you can change this!
Help spread the word about Neighbours Helping Neighbours (see FAQ 3, 4, & 5).
9. What items are considered essential?
The following items are considered essential:
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Toilet paper
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Paper towels
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Tissues
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Bleach
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Disinfectant wipes
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Disinfectant spray
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Nitrile gloves
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Hand soap
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Hand sanitiser
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Incontinence pads
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Non-perishable food items (e.g. rice, pasta, frozen foods, canned food, etc.)
Some of these items are EXTREMELY hard to source such as hand sanitiser & bleach. You may always put in a request, but we cannot guarantee the items you request will be available.
10. Are the service provided by Neighbours Helping Neighbours safe?
Our primary goal is to keep the most vulnerable safe. By following the instructions on the “Precautions” handout (sourced from the SA Health website) we are not putting the vulnerable at risk. Our approach requires 100% ZERO CONTACT.
The Australian government recommends delivery over in-store purchases whenever possible. Neighbours Helping Neighbours is a delivery service. By keeping the elderly at home, we can eliminate the risk of them contracting the virus in a grocery store, where exposure to COVID-19 is high. Think trolleys, baskets, a lack of social distancing, money handling, exposure to sick people, touching items on shelves, etc. – VERY RISKY!
11. Are the essential items delivered free?
YES! 100%. They are donated by kind-hearted, generous people who have items to share and who want to help. Most of these people are your neighbours.
12. Where do the essential items come from? Are the volunteers hoarding essential items?
The essential items come from our volunteers who want to share the little that they have.
The volunteers are absolutely NOT hoarding essential items, but they may have been able to find a 12 pack of toilet paper and are willing to share one or two rolls with their neighbours.
13. What does “Drop, Ring, Run” mean?
Volunteers must leave the item(s) at the doorstep, ring the doorbell & leave immediately. 100% ZERO CONTACT.
14. What do you mean by “100% ZERO CONTACT?”
Neighbours Helping Neighbours is a 100% ZERO CONTACT service. We can help those in our community without getting near them. We must protect the vulnerable by practising social-distancing.
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Social-distancing means avoiding close contact and crowded places whenever you can and aiming to keep approximately 1.5 metres distance from those around you in the community.
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