6
QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 29, 2020
OnPoint Family Center in Flushing starts
delivery service for senior customers
BY JENNA BAGCAL
A Flushing pharmacy is
doing its part to protect the
elderly and other vulnerable
individuals during the coronavirus
crisis by offering
shopping services for those
within the community.
OnPoint Family Center —
located at 25-39 Parsons Blvd.
— rolled out its “Shop Sixty”
initiative, where customers
60 and older and those who
are immunocompromised
can submit their shopping
lists and have items delivered
to their homes.
According to Amy Ho, the
supervising pharmacist and
one of the store’s managing
partners, she noticed a lot of
elderly customers from 70 to
90 years old were still coming
into the store to shop.
As a solution to this problem
and to promote more social
distancing, OnPoint implemented
the shopping and
delivery service on March
20. From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.,
customers can submit their
grocery lists via phone, fax
or computer, after which a
staff member will gather the
items on the list and deliver
the items on the same day or
the day after.
Family members can also
order products and medication
on behalf of their loved
ones.
“Right now our in store
hours are still normal but
they may be adjusted based
on the need. I want to be able
to keep the store open long
enough to service the people
but at the same time I don’t
want to keep it too long that
it puts my staff at extra exposure,”
Ho said.
To limit exposure even
further, Ho said that her
staff will ring customer’s
bells and drop off their orders
at the door or lobby if
they live in an apartment
building. For customers
who may be disabled she
said that the pharmacy staff
will “play it by ear” and
make special arrangements
in those situations.
Ho said that she understands
people’s situations
will vary, so she said she’s
willing to make exceptions
to accommodate certain customer’s
while still trying to
maintain optimal safety.
“We’ll make exceptions.
It’s a community so we
make a lot of exceptions for
people,” she said. “We’re going
to encourage everyone
to use a credit card because
handling money is extra
exposure. But there are going
to be some people that
don’t have a credit card and
they’re going to want to utilize
the services. So we’ll
make those exceptions for
people who need it.”
She added that deliveries
will be based on the area’s
needs and if she finds that
the surrounding community
is requesting the services
most, the delivery distance
will be more limited. But if a
customer lives further away
but is in need of delivery
services, OnPoint will try
and make these exceptions
as well.
The store is not checking
IDs or asking for proof of age,
but expects people to be honest
in order to let the staff
focus on helping the most
vulnerable populations. On-
Point is not charging a delivery
fee but is requesting customers
spend a minimum of
about $30.
Due to the circumstances,
Ho said that there are
shortages on items like toilet
paper, hand sanitizer and
surgical masks but they are
getting these items in small
weekly shipments from their
vendors. She has also enforced
a limit on things like
Tylenol as it’s a necessary
medication for those running
a fever.
“We’ll do our best to
keep everything in stock
and deliver whatever they
need but it’s whatever we
have available at the time,”
said Ho. “We would look
at their shopping list and
check off the items that
we have and everything
we don’t have would not
be included in the package.
We’re trying our best
everyday to try to keep
things in stock but with
what’s going on right now,
it’s just hard. A lot of the
vendors are not sending
the quantities that we’re
asking for.”
OnPoint Family Center
is located at 25-39 Parsons
Blvd. To make an order, call
718-762-8862, fax 718-762-8130
or email onpointpharmacy@
gmail.com.
OnPoint Family Center Photo credit: Google Maps
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