Yahoo Finance Local shop giving away hand sanitiser to pensioners for free to stop coronavirus spread
The kindhearted owners of a local shop have started giving away hand sanitiser gel to pensioners in an effort to tackle the spread of coronavirus.
Shopkeeper Asiyah Javed, 34, stocked up on hand gel at a Cash and Carry, before Covid-19 had reached Scotland.
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But on 7 March, she and husband Jawad, 35, decided it was time to help out elderly shoppers.
Customers over the age of 65 can pick up a goody bag containing a facemask, antibacterial hand gel and cleaning wipes at Day Today Express, in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk.
Elderly and infirm shoppers can also have the bag delivered to them for free.
The act of generosity is costing the business nearly £2,000, as each bag costs £2 to put together and so far £500 have been delivered.
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Another 300 are ready to be collected in the shop.
Mother-of-three Mrs Javed said: "We have given away 500 bags.
"On Saturday I was out, and I met an old woman, she was crying because she had been to the supermarket and there was no hand wash.
"I feel it is not fair on elderly people, some can't get out the house.
"We are delivering 30 packages to a care home where there are 30 people living, and we've got another couple of hundred in the shop.
"Some people are asking for them to be delivered as they're old, or disabled, or don't drive.
"We are just trying to help people who can't get out the house."
She said the gesture had provoked ridicule from some people, adding: "Other shoppers are calling us stupid, and saying 'why are you giving them away for free?'.
"But money is not everything, there will be the opportunity to make money in future.”
Mrs Javed said she decided to act after thinking about how her late grandparents would have struggled.
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She said: "My grandparents have passed away, but we still think of them when we see all this.
"We spent a lot of time with our grandparents and we feel that if they were alive we wouldn't want them to be struggling.”
