Mahmoud Abdelmoneum, a volunteer for PDX Concierge, shops for groceries at Market of Choice’s Cedar Mill store.
Knowing that the pandemic has proved especially challenging for some people in higher risk categories, Neel Jain was helping out his grandmother last spring when an idea occurred to him.
“I was helping doing some of her grocery shopping and I thought there are a lot of people in the same boat as her.”
He recruited some of his friends from his Portland high school and they began shopping and delivering groceries for people in the community who need assistance.
Now, Neel’s PDX Concierge service has expanded to seven cities in the Willamette Valley with a team of more than 50 volunteers. So far, they’ve made about 400 deliveries. The people they serve pay for the groceries but there is no charge for the deliveries.
That kind of community activism is something that Market of Choice has always sought to encourage. As such, we support the efforts of Neel and his team of volunteers.
Neel says he plans to continue the service for as long as it’s needed. His website (pdxdeliver.com) aims to recruit additional volunteers and get the word out to people who would benefit from the delivery service.
“Even after the pandemic, there are people who don’t have transportation who can’t get to stores,” he says. “We have eager high school students that want to help.”
If you would like more information please visit their website at pdxdeliver.com.
