Grocery Store Front Line Workers Are Our New Set of Heroes

My friend Vanessa posted a photo of her brother on her Facebook page the other day to thank him and the countless other supermarket employees all over the country right now, who are going above and beyond during this unprecedented time for all of us.

If you really think about it, these workers are now our front line heroes during this COVID-19 pandemic. They are coming into contact with numerous people every hour, several hours a day and now for weeks. This is pretty scary stuff knowing that we are all trying our best to stay healthy and safe from the coronavirus.

While being asked to keep social distancing top of mind, what about the individuals who work in the essential workplaces and must still report to their jobs every day?

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We recognize that our associates are doing extraordinary work to serve our communities during the COVID-19 emergency. Stop & Shop is proud to provide a 10% increase in pay for all current union hourly associates, 2 weeks paid sick leave for those mandated to quarantine and flexible hours to help associates who are managing things like school and childcare facility closures. Spending necessary time away from work because of COVID-19 will not put their jobs at risk. In these times, and always, we are thankful to our associates for all they do in service to our communities.

A post shared by Stop & Shop (@stopandshop) on Mar 23, 2020 at 8:53am PDT

Vanessa says, "I just wanted to give him some credit in a time when our grocery workers have become some of our heroes! Feel free to share and give Derek some praise." She goes on to say, "Stop & Shop... I hope you know how lucky you are to have Derek working at your Natick, MA store!"

Honestly, this post made my heart melt and I could not agree with my friend Vanessa more. Way to go, Derek! Thank you for doing your best to serve all of us (the public) with kindness. You're appreciated more than you know.