Scottsdale Mom Starts Campaign To Help Families Get Household Essentials

Across the country and right here in Arizona, many store shelves are bare and the essentials have been picked over because of coronavirus concerns. If you need toilet paper, hand sanitizer, or cleaning supplies, you probably won’t have much luck by checking your local stores.

Lindsey Dempsey, who runs the website LocalSavvyAZ.com says she’s now using her site to help connect people with the things they need and can’t find. It’s called the coronavirus preparation barter and trade campaign.

“I’ve seen a lot of families who are really concerned because they are on their last diapers,” Dempsey said. “They’re on their last container of formula and it really is scary.”

“It’s very simple,” she added. “Step one, you just go onto LocalSavvyAZ.com and you comment about something you need. It could be diapers. It could be toilet paper. It could be anything, and then from there, other people look at the post and if they see something that they have and they see something that they need. Then they simply comment and they start that conversation with other families.”

So far, Dempsey said the campaign has been shared across several social medial platforms, and the connections and requests are rolling in.

“This is a really scary one,” Dempsey said as she read one of the posts. “‘My husband owns a medical practice and masks are on backorder.'”

Dempsey said she is working with local businesses in hopes of setting up drop-off locations for items to be traded. The website will also post updates when common household items are restocked in local stores.

“We’re just getting a lot of support there,” Dempsey said. “It’s a great way to utilize our resources to really get the community to really join together and help each other out, and maybe even meet some friends along the way. Who knows!”