United Samaritans Foundation shuts down all services due to employee COVID case
The United Samaritans Foundation on Monday shut down all of its services, including its mobile lunch program, because one employee tested positive for COVID-19.
All of the foundation’s staff are quarantining and the Turlock and Hughson facilities will reopen Jan. 4, said Board of Directors President John S. Rogers.
An employee working at the Turlock office began feeling sick Friday, then got tested, Rogers said. Where she caught the virus is unknown, he said. The rest of the staff got tested on Sunday, but Rogers said they had not received the results as of Tuesday afternoon.
The nonprofit organization’s leaders decided to halt services for two weeks to be cautious, Rogers said, adding he did not consult Stanislaus County Health Services Agency about the closure.
“I say prayers that we are back on the road because a lot of people depend on the food that we serve,” Rogers said.
United Samaritans usually runs a lunch truck program, serving free meals five days a week throughout the county in Turlock, Ceres, Keyes, Modesto, Hughson and Patterson. In October, the nonprofit served nearly 25,000 meals through its truck and senior meals programs, according to its December newsletter. It also delivered about 17,000 meals to families, students and seniors through emergency food box and grocery delivery programs that month.
Its mail services are also closed, according to a voice message for the Turlock facility, and all mail will be held until Jan. 4. The organization provides an address for those going through their program if they don’t have a home address.
The decision marks the first time United Samaritans has shut down since the pandemic began, Rogers said.
While United Samaritans is closed, people who need a lunch on weekdays between noon and 12:30 p.m. can go to Turlock Gospel Mission’s gate, a sign posted on the door says. The Gospel Mission is about two blocks away from the foundation’s Turlock facility, at 432 South Broadway.
Donations to United Samaritans can be made at its website. A $10 donation feeds a family of five, while $50 feeds 25 people.
Other nonprofit organizations in the county have previously reported COVID-19 cases among its staff and clients. The Salvation Army reported 25 of its homeless men staying at the Berberian Center shelter in Modesto tested positive in late July. Earlier that month, the Modesto Gospel Mission reported 18 homeless men and four male staff members contracted COVID-19.
This story was originally published December 22, 2020 at 5:39 PM.
