As the Coronavirus pandemic spread, the official guidelines mandated that everyone stay at home, with a few notable exceptions, including procuring medicine or other vital supplies. Yet certain populations are more vulnerable, and the elderly, immunosuppressed, and chronically ill were advised to stay home no matter what. Yet these are precisely the populations that often heavily rely on medication. In addition, the travel restrictions prevented family members from helping their grandparents. Students from the Hebrew University's Faculty of Medicine realized they could fill this gap.
The students founded Pillivery, a volunteer service that contacts pharmacies, who in turn contact at-risk patients to determine what medications are needed. A Pillivery volunteer picks up and delivers the medicine to the patient's home. To date, they have assisted over 1,200 patients across Israel. Over two hundred volunteers visit pharmacies, collect medication, and deliver - right to the patient's door.
Pillivery was recently featured on Israeli TV, a clip is available here (Hebrew).