OAK LAWN, IL — While quarantined Italians sing hymns on their balconies to keep their spirits up during Italy’s coronavirus outbreak that has killed 1,800 people and sickened almost 25,000 there, Americans are panic-buying hand sanitizer and toilet paper.
This past weekend, as Illinoisans’ world grew increasingly smaller with the shutdown of schools, churches, bars and restaurants to slow the community spread of COVID-19, local residents posted photos on Facebook pages of shoppers pushing heaping carts of toilet paper, Lysol wipes, paper towels, meat and other items, usually accompanied by an angry comment about greed.
For those wondering where all these hoarded paper products and cleaning supplies are ending up, bidding for a single roll of POM 2-ply toilet paper on eBay was at $22, with a nine-pack of Ultra Soft Charmin’ Mega Rolls going for an astounding $63. Then there are the cleaning supplies: A three-pack of Lysol wipes was bidding at $44 — shipping not included.
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Despite people buying five times more than they normally would during this unprecedented public health crisis, there is still good in the world. Sick of all the selfish stockpiling, Oak Lawn mom Jeannie Oakes was inspired to start the Corona-Virus Food and Supplies Hoarder Trading Group on Facebook after watching a man buy up all the toilet paper last week at the Home Depot on 95th Street.
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“He filled up his car and then came back in and bought more,” she said in a phone interview while on the prowl for Lysol Max Cover Spray, a product she discovered a few years ago when a nasty norovirus flattened Oakes, her husband and their three children. “I asked the guy, ‘What about all the other people who need toilet paper?’ He said, ‘That’s their problem.’ It started a fire in me.”
After driving to the seventh store looking for Lysol Max Cover Spray when she should have been at home social distancing, Oakes started the Corona-Virus Food and Supplies Hoarders Trading Group, where people looking for items could trade their excess Lysol Wipes for a few rolls of Cottonelle.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is happening in a time when politics are dividing us,” Oakes said. “I don’t know if the person I just gave four rolls of toilet paper to is a Democrat or a Republican — to me, they are just someone who needs toilet paper.”
Since the group’s launch Friday, it has evolved into something much larger than Oakes anticipated, with unintended consequences of goodness.
“What is really cool, it started out with me saying, ‘Hey, let’s look out for each other and trade stuff,'” Oakes said. “The altruism of people trying to truly help each other — it’s awesome to see how much good there is in the world.”
Some members of the group have gone shopping for a mom with an immunity-compromised son, or brought bar soap to elderly neighbors who are social distancing and can’t make it out to stores. Others are giving away baby formula or girls’ size-4 pull-ups. The Hong Kong Restaurant, 2757 W. 55th St., Chicago, received a shipment of 250 individually wrapped rolls of toilet paper and is offering free rolls, one per person — two if you’re a senior. And if you’re near 49th Street and Wolcott, Willie’s was still well-stocked over the weekend with toilet paper, bread, snacks, meat, cheese, water and cleaning supplies, while the Jewel and Mariano’s stores were decimated.
Oakes has a few rules for the group: First, hoarders’ price-gouging their neighbors is not allowed. If you’re at a store and see something someone might need, or a delivery truck that just pulled up in front of Target or Walmart with a load of hand sanitizer and toilet paper, let everyone in the group know. Some selling is allowed, but only at the price for which it was purchased. Also, be nice.
Since making the rounds Sunday to report which stores had toilet paper and bleach (her husband has asked her to stop going to stores), Oakes has developed a newfound respect for retail workers, whom she calls “angels.”
“Anyone who works at Target or Costco or Sam’s Club, they’re the most exposed,” Oakes said. “There are older people in their 60s and 70s working at Walmart, and they’re still helping people.”
Got some extra supplies to share? Looking for something? Check out the Corona-Virus Food and Supplies Hoarder Trading Group on Facebook.
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