The enormous impact of the COVID-19-inspired program has been featured in numerous articles highlighting the donations that poured in during the initial lockdown period, including a mention during an early pandemic press conference from then-Governor Gina Raimondo on March 26, 2020. 

“Family Service of Rhode Island is putting together kits and items such as disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer and they’re arranging pickup and delivery of these kits for families in need,” she said in her daily COVID update. 

Raimondo urged individuals and companies to donate to the program, or reach out for free doorstep delivery of supplies for residents in need statewide.

But the Be Safe program at FSRI started weeks before with a simple idea—raise $5000 to buy enough PPE, cleaning supplies, and food to supply 200 FSRI clients that might need help finding and purchasing these items to keep themselves and their families safe.

It was an effort that FSRI leaders initially thought might last a week—or a few weeks.

But as time went on, that idea became a statewide movement in simple kindness. With a groundswell of support, volunteers and staff began assembling kits of supplies to be delivered to anyone that told us they needed one. The Be Safe campaign was born, bridging the accessibility gap for any Rhode Islander that needed it.

Over 25 area organizations donated supplies, time, effort, and money, alongside over 1200 everyday Rhode Islanders, who chipped in what they could– all while experiencing uncertainty themselves– to make sure their neighbors had what they needed to be safe, too.

On the one-year anniversary of the first COVID official case, the program had delivered enough supplies to serve 35,000 individual people.

As of today– over 2 years later, Be Safe, combined with its short-term sister program, Be Safe Fresh, has delivered enough food to feed 83,340 individual Rhode Islanders. Many of those deliveries were done by members of our AmeriCorps program.

For more information on the Be Safe program, or to make a request for an urban core delivery, visit the Be Safe page of our website by clicking here.

If you live outside our service area and need to find a local food pantry, click here.

But FSRI was already busy—brainstorming ways to help children and families in need. As store shelves began to run bare with panic, basics like masks, cleaning supplies, sanitizer, diapers, and toilet paper were increasingly in short supply for everyone. FSRI recognized early on there was an accessibility gap emerging that prevented many families from getting what they needed to stay safe.

It started with a simple idea—raise $5000 to buy enough PPE, cleaning supplies, and food to supply 200 FSRI clients that might need help finding and purchasing these items to keep themselves and their families safe.

It was an effort that FSRI leaders thought might last a week—or a few weeks.

But as time went on, that idea became a statewide movement in simple kindness. With a groundswell of support, volunteers and staff began assembling kits of supplies to be delivered to anyone that told us they needed one. The Be Safe campaign was born, bridging the accessibility gap for any Rhode Islander that needed it.

Over 25 area organizations donated supplies, time, effort, and money, alongside over 1200 everyday Rhode Islanders, who chipped in what they could– all while experiencing uncertainty themselves– to make sure their neighbors had what they needed to be safe, too.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year. Today we are grateful to say, because of your kindness, we’ve served over 35,000 Rhode Islanders in an effort that has truly saved lives. We did this, all of us – together.

There’s been immense grief and loss over the past 12 months. But we’re still here, delivering assistance to the doorsteps of those in need each day to keep ALL Rhode Islanders healthy and safe, as we figure this out together. And it’s still going. But we can’t do it without you.