Greenville medical student launches shopping service for vulnerable neighbors

At the local market recently, Hallie Weems watched as a small, elderly woman tried to do her grocery shopping.

Though she had a glove in one hand, she was touching all the handles of the food cases with her ungloved hand to get the milk, the eggs.

In normal times, Weems might not even have noticed.

But with a dangerous pandemic infecting more people every day, these aren’t normal times.

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And the third-year medical student realized that the woman, who is in the highest risk group for coronavirus, probably shouldn’t be in such a crowded environment where someone might infect her.

“It made me really sad to see her,” Weems, 27, told The Greenville News. 

“I hated to think of her having a bad outcome," she said. "But I just kind of went home and wished I’d gotten her number so I could shop for her.”

Back at her Greenville home, Weems, who is studying to be a primary care physician at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, realized there had to be other people in her Augusta Road neighborhood who were in the same situation — people for whom going out represented a higher risk than it would be for her.

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So she decided that at least she could do their shopping for them. She printed 30 fliers announcing that she was available to help at-risk people and began stuffing mailboxes around the neighborhood.

"I didn’t want elderly people to be in the grocery store and get something we can prevent,” she said. “I felt like I was in a position … to do my part to help out an at-risk population in my community.”

Getting the word out

The desire to help is in Weems' blood.

Her grandfather was a physician. And her father is an infectious disease specialist in Greenville too.

Although she began studying chemistry to pursue a research career, she fell into an internship at a pediatric hospital and decided medicine was for her after all.

Since she just started the shopping service last weekend, she’s only gotten a few families signed up. But she’s enlisted 10 of her fellow medical students to do the same in their neighborhoods as well.

“The biggest thing is getting the word out,” Weems said. “I want everyone in the neighborhood to know it’s an option.”

Janis Amacher, a Greenville resident in her 70s with an underlying health condition, called Weems and her service “fabulous.”

“When the groceries were delivered today, I said to my friend, I didn’t realize how stressful it was to go the grocery store,” she said. “It was a sense of relief really.”

And the whole process was easy as pie. She contacted Weems, gave her a grocery list, and the foodstuffs were delivered to her front porch.

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“She got in touch with me about some items that weren’t there (at the store) and I said just use your best judgment,” she said. “I was really pleased.”

Amacher said she and her friends have been staying at home as the virus spread, so Weems’ shopping project is a welcome alternative to braving the supermarket.

“She’s doing a wonderful service. It’s very selfless,” she said. “It restores your spirit.”

The care of others

At the grocery store, Weems is careful to take all the precautions she can. She wipes down the shopping cart and display case handles — “hundreds of people have touched those knobs” — grabs products with antiseptic wipes, and sanitizes her hands frequently.

She only uses the self-checkout and wipes the conveyer down too. And she keeps a good distance between herself and others.

“I‘m a healthy 27-year-old,” she said. “I have training in personal protective equipment and sanitation in the hospital and so I feel pretty comfortable. My outcome, if I got the virus, would be much, much better than someone over 65.”

Weems says the best part of what she's doing is the people that she’s met.

“These are people I’ve never known before, living two or three blocks away from me, some for my whole life,” she said. 

"It’s so fun to meet someone and hear their story and connect with people you would not normally interact with," she added. “And the people are appreciative."

Weems said she’s prepared to be called into service to help should the pandemic strain overwhelmed health care workers.

“It makes the promise you give at the beginning of medical school really real — to take care of people in any condition. And that your life is devoted to the care of others,” she said. “All of our health care providers in Greenville make me really proud."

Weems said her greatest hope to come out of the shopping service is that someone reads this story and it sparks them to do the same for their community.

“More than anything, we all need to come together,” she said. “And doing something for someone in your community who’s more vulnerable than you will have a lasting effect.”

Anyone interested in Weems' grocery shopping service should contact her via email at weemsah@gmail.com. 

Liv Osby is the health writer at The Greenville News. She can be reached at losby@greenvillenews.com, 864-298-4422 or @livgnews.