Starting on Tuesday, March 24, Ingles will dedicate the first shopping hour from 7 – 8 am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to senior shoppers and those with compromised immune systems.

Publix Markets reserves 7-8 a.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for customers age 65 and older. Home delivery is available through Instacart.

Dear Bounty & Soul Family,

Bounty & Soul is deeply committed to the health and well-being of the community. It is what you have trusted and helped us to do all these years and we couldn’t be more grateful. On behalf of the board and staff, we want you to know that during this challenging time, we are being called to deliver on our promise of providing healthy food and support to our community in this great time of need and we are doing so in a BIG WAY…TOGETHER. It is our priority to ensure the health and safety of our staff, volunteers and community members as we navigate this crisis and we are following the guidance of the WHO, CDC and state and local officials to quickly adapt to take the necessary precautions. This is what we are doing to provide much-needed resources while providing safety and protection:

• We will be hosting drive-thru pick up sites for participants to collect pre-made healthy food boxes. Tuesdays at St. James Episcopal Church Parking Lot from 11am-1pm and Fridays at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church Parking Lot from 4-6pm. We are asking that no one arrives to the site prior to the scheduled times.
• We have cancelled all of our classes, kids activities and after-school programming as to follow the guidance for social distancing until further notice. Recognizing the importance of staying well, we will STILL provide healthy recipes, helpful tips, resources and education (including how to manage stress in a crisis) through printed materials, social media and on our website. Hope-filled messages and affirmations will also go into boxes.
• We have hand sanitizer, gloves, masks and constant messaging on washing hands set up at our volunteer shifts and at the distribution sites as well as ask everyone to take the following steps and precautions:

(1) Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer immediately upon entering new spaces.

(2) Avoid shaking hands, touching your face, nose and eyes and other personal contact.

(3) Cough or sneeze into your elbow, not hands. If your cough/sneeze is persistent, consider using a mask if available. 

(4) If you have a fever, respiratory symptoms or feel unwell please stay home.

(5) If you have traveled internationally or flown recently please refrain from activities at this time.

Thank you for your commitment and support in ensuring that Bounty & Soul continues to get Produce to The People during this time of uncertainty. Now, more than ever we must come together as a community, as a nation, as a world to be there for one another, support and love each other. It’s the Bounty & Soul way…

In solidarity, health and love,

Ali, Abbie, Adam, Karla, Linda, Fitz and the Board of Bounty & Soul

HOW YOU CAN HELP
(1) Donate Funds to Help Us Purchase Bulk Grains and Other Shelf-Stable Items
(2) Donate Food/Organize a Food Drive/Write hope-filled messages of encouragement to go into boxes
(3) Deliver Benevolent Boxes to Seniors and other Vulnerable Populations

Contact Karla at [email protected] to learn more about any of these opportunities.

Bounty & Soul is also in need of small boxes from Ingles and/or reusable bags. These can be dropped off at our office located at 999 Old US Hwy 70 W, behind the Swannanoa Valley Medical Center.

Starting on Tuesday, March 24, Ingles will dedicate the first shopping hour from 7 – 8 am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to senior shoppers and those with compromised immune systems.

Publix Markets reserves 7-8 a.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for customers age 65 and older. Home delivery is available through Instacart.

Every Wednesday from 12-6pm, Carolina Hemp Company and Ambrose West, alongside their neighbors on West Asheville’s Beachm’s Curve, will host a community aid drive to gather and donate supplies and food to support local emergency relief efforts. Recipients include Homeward Bound, Western Carolina Rescue Ministries, 12 Bones, the YMCA, and more! As Asheville’s Hometown Hemp Company, Carolina Hemp Company values their local community, and believes in supporting each other when in need. In times such as these, we are reminded of the unfortunate imbalance in society’s ability to afford and have access to basic necessities. The Carolina Hemp Company mission is and always has been Bringing Balance Through Hemp and they now have the opportunity to practice this through service to the Asheville community. While being encouraged to separate, it is important we still band together to pool resources, communicate, and take care of each other. Carolina Hemp Company will be collecting non-perishable food items, cooking essentials, health and wellness products, cleaning and sanitation supplies, and general toiletries, and camping gear to load into the Hemp Xpress Trolley and distribute to local organizations who are dedicated to providing shelter, food and health services to those who need it most. Updates and detailed information will be posted to the Beacham’s Curve Aid Supply and Food Drive event page on the Carolina Hemp Company facebook page.

The staff is committed to practicing conscious handling and delivery of all supplies through hand washing, wiping down items, and limited contact between donors, themselves, and the receiving organizations’ representatives

Harris Teeter reserves 6-7am on Mondays and Thursdays for in-store shoppers age 60 and older. ExpressLane Online Shopping pickup times from 9am-2pm on Thursdays are reserved for these shoppers with the $4.95 fee waived (use code: SD60). Home delivery is also offered for seniors during these times for $5 (used code: SDDEL).

Join us for our North Carolina Digital Town Hall on Thursday, April 16 at 3:00pm ET here on Facebook.

The threat of the coronavirus underscores the need for everyone to have access to affordable health care and prescription drugs. Now more than ever, the lives of people on the frontlines, health care workers, and people with pre-existing conditions are on the line.

Two years ago, Health Care Voter started out by crossing America to lift up stories about the need to protect the ACA. Now we’re back, and in the middle of a major health care pandemic, it’s more important than ever that we fight together for access to affordable care, medicines, and vaccines.

Health Care Voter is launching “Our Lives On The Line: A Digital Town Hall Series” to elevate the stories and experiences of Americans affected by the spread of the coronavirus, and how in the face of this epidemic we’re still fighting for the Affordable Care Act and against the skyrocketing costs of prescription drug prices in our country.

For more information on the Our Lives On The Line, please visit: ourlivesontheline.org

Record a question for the upcoming digital town hall: healthcarevoter.soapboxx.us/prompt-single/northcarolina

Text “OnTheLine” to 52886 for updates and reminders for events!

NOTE: Click “Going” on this event to be notified when this live-stream begins on Facebook.

Grassroots Aid Partnership (GAP) plans to serve free, plant-based food every Friday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 1022 Haywood Road.

Asheville Outlets will host a blood donation drive in partnership with the American Red Cross on Wednesday, April 22 and Thursday, April 23, 2020 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day inside the Food Court.

Donors are asked to register in advance by visiting RedCrossBlood.org/give and entering the sponsor code Ashevilleoutlets. The American Red Cross will establish additional safety guidelines to ensure all donors are socially distanced.

Donating blood products is essential to community health and eligible donors are strongly urged to
donate blood, platelets, or AB Elite plasma. The Red Cross only collects blood from individuals who are
healthy and feeling well at the time of donation – and who meet other eligibility requirements.
At each blood drive or donation center, Red Cross employees follow thorough safety protocols, including:
 Wearing gloves and changing them often.
 Wiping down donor-touched areas after every collection.
 Using sterile collection sets for every donation.
 Preparing the arm for donation with aseptic scrub.
 Conducting donor mini physicals to ensure donors are healthy and well on day of donation.
We have also increased our vigilance concerning some of these safety protocols including:
 Enhanced disinfecting of surfaces and equipment.
 Providing hand sanitizer for use before entering and throughout the donation appointment.
 Temperature checks before presenting donors enter the blood drive or donation center.
 Following social distancing practices between donors including donor beds, as well as waiting and
refreshment areas.
 During this time, blankets typically used by platelet, Power Red and AB Elite donors at Red Cross blood
donation centers will be laundered after each use, which may limit the availability. Donors are
encouraged to bring their own blankets, but electric blankets and heating pads are not permitted.
 Staff wearing basic face masks.
To ensure our staff are healthy each day, we have implemented standard staff health assessments prior to all
blood drives.  Finally, only eligible and healthy people can give blood.  These mitigation measures will help
ensure blood recipient safety, as well as staff and donor safety in reducing contact with those who may
potentially have this respiratory infection.

Grassroots Aid Partnership (GAP) plans to serve free, plant-based food every Friday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 1022 Haywood Road.

Click on Link Below to Register.
https://www.meditationinasheville.org/product/how-to-care-for-our-minds-in-difficult-times/

Sundays April 12 – May 10 10:30am – 11:45am
Register online and the link and instructions on livestreaming will be emailed to you. $10 per weekly class.

Having woken up to our world looking quite different, what can we do now? Buddhist meditation teachings and practices help us to develop more space in ourself giving us flexibility of mind, from which we can make better choices about how to respond in these challenging times.

By helping us develop a different perspective we will begin to notice special opportunities that we might not have noticed before, for becoming kinder, developing ourselves spiritually, and transforming difficulties into greater peace and meaning in our life. Each Livestream class will included guided meditations and practical teachings.

These Livestream classes are available to those who live in Western North Carolina, and the Vicinity of Greenville, SC and Tennessee.

Asheville Outlets will host a blood donation drive in partnership with the American Red Cross on Wednesday, April 22 and Thursday, April 23, 2020 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day inside the Food Court.

Donors are asked to register in advance by visiting RedCrossBlood.org/give and entering the sponsor code Ashevilleoutlets. The American Red Cross will establish additional safety guidelines to ensure all donors are socially distanced.

Donating blood products is essential to community health and eligible donors are strongly urged to
donate blood, platelets, or AB Elite plasma. The Red Cross only collects blood from individuals who are
healthy and feeling well at the time of donation – and who meet other eligibility requirements.
At each blood drive or donation center, Red Cross employees follow thorough safety protocols, including:
 Wearing gloves and changing them often.
 Wiping down donor-touched areas after every collection.
 Using sterile collection sets for every donation.
 Preparing the arm for donation with aseptic scrub.
 Conducting donor mini physicals to ensure donors are healthy and well on day of donation.
We have also increased our vigilance concerning some of these safety protocols including:
 Enhanced disinfecting of surfaces and equipment.
 Providing hand sanitizer for use before entering and throughout the donation appointment.
 Temperature checks before presenting donors enter the blood drive or donation center.
 Following social distancing practices between donors including donor beds, as well as waiting and
refreshment areas.
 During this time, blankets typically used by platelet, Power Red and AB Elite donors at Red Cross blood
donation centers will be laundered after each use, which may limit the availability. Donors are
encouraged to bring their own blankets, but electric blankets and heating pads are not permitted.
 Staff wearing basic face masks.
To ensure our staff are healthy each day, we have implemented standard staff health assessments prior to all
blood drives.  Finally, only eligible and healthy people can give blood.  These mitigation measures will help
ensure blood recipient safety, as well as staff and donor safety in reducing contact with those who may
potentially have this respiratory infection.