Beverly Hills Park Rangers Deliver Meals For Residents In Need

BEVERLY HILLS, CA —With city parks closed down, Beverly Hills park rangers are hitting the road and delivering meals to the city's elderly and immobile residents. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, rangers have delivered hundreds of meals to an increasing number of residents unable to leave home.

The meal program is coordinated by the city's Human Services Division, which generally works with Meals on Wheels, Los Angeles County, and Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles to provide a variety of services to the local senior population. Since the pandemic began, many seniors who usually volunteer for Meals on Wheels no longer felt safe making deliveries, so park rangers have stepped in to replace them and serve an increasing number of people.

"We probably have 4 or 500 seniors on our call list, and we're ramping up to provide more meals," said Human Services Administrator James Latta. "We're getting close to meeting our capacity, so we need to find more resources."

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Over 200 people have volunteered with the city's COVID-19 Kindness Task Force established by Councilmember and former Mayor John Mirisch, for which he counts the city lucky.

Through the program, local volunteers are providing meals, shopping for groceries, walking dogs, picking up prescriptions, or talking on the phone with people who cannot leave their homes.

Anyone requiring assistance can dial the Beverly Hills COVID-19 Hotline at 310-550-4680 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

They can also email humanservices@beverlyhills.org or call the office at 310-285-1078.

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