Even without Del's Lemonade, COVID 'care package' delights quarantining Providence man
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Facing five days of quarantine with no food, Dariel Hernandez was pleasantly surprised Monday morning when a package of groceries was left on his doorstep.
Hernandez, 29, of Providence, was supposed to go food shopping Sunday, but he and his girlfriend, Nadja Montanez, instead went into quarantine when he tested positive for COVID-19.
"We had nothing in the house," Hernandez said.
"Luckily," Hernandez said, he noticed a link on the state website where he looked up his test results. It said, "Click here if you need food assistance."
By clicking, Hernandez was able to engage with a Health Department program that works with the United Way and the Elisha Project in East Providence to deliver free food to people quarantining with COVID.
The next morning, a "care package" was dropped at Hernandez's door. Hernandez said, "They included everything, chicken, vegetables, instant potatoes, regular potatoes.
"They included two avocados. I love avocados," he said.
Hernandez was so pleased he posted a photo of the package to the website Reddit, saying, "Caught COVID and the state sent me a care package!"
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The delivery prompted Hernandez to recall his reaction after seeing a similar Reddit post a week or two earlier. That post was from a person who lived in Japan, saying they'd received a package of food after contracting COVID.
That post drew comments from people saying, "Wow, if you were in America, that would never happen."
"I thought the same thing," Hernandez said.
Joseph Wendelken, a spokesman for the Health Department, said the Emergency Food Box Program gets "food and other critical resources to people and families that are quarantining or in isolation. For example, the boxes that get delivered often include diapers, PPE, and cleaning and hygiene products.
"We don't ask about people's incomes," Wendelken said.
Since the program's inception in October 2020, more than 14,000 food boxes have been delivered to residents across the state, he said.
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Hernandez caught COVID even though he's had two vaccine shots. He had scheduled a booster, but COVID got him first. The illness gave him chills and a debilitating headache that radiated to his shoulders.
When he's not in quarantine, Hernandez works 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. maintaining dental facilities. He also takes computer coding classes three nights a week.
On Wednesday, Hernandez said he was feeling better. He'll need his energy since he and Montanez are expecting a child next month.
Hernandez's Reddit post drew some humorous responses from people wondering if the state had sent him food with a real Rhode Island flavor, such as pizza strips, Del's Lemonade or the Mayor's Own Marinara Sauce.
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Picking up the heavy package upon arrival, Hernandez joked with Montanez, saying he hoped it would include some New York System wieners.
"There were no New York System wieners, no Del's Lemonade or coffee milk," he said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "That was the only disappointing part."
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COVID by the numbers
Cases in R.I.: 320,617 (3,273 reported Wednesday)
Negative tests in R.I.: 6,693,623 (18,359 reported Wednesday; 15.1% positive rate)
R.I. COVID-related deaths: 3,215 (15 reported Wednesday)
Rhode Islanders hospitalized with COVID: 547 (42 in intensive care)
Fully vaccinated in R.I.: 796,238 (917,051 at least partially vaccinated)
Cases in Mass.: 1,487,277
Mass. COVID-related deaths: 20,999
Cases in U.S.: 67,824,455
U.S. COVID-related deaths: 854,950
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Under COVID quarantine, man gets grocery delivery from RI government
