NORTH RANDALL, Ohio — During the coronavirus pandemic, people are relying more on package delivery.
According to Amazon, in the "past four weeks, more than 6,500 new employees were hired in Ohio, joining more than 8,500 full time employees already working in Amazon facilities across the state."
It's an essential job during these times, and one transportation operations manager Daren Douglas takes pride in.
"It’s really keeping the community safe especially folks that might be at high risk, they can stay home and they can order on Amazon and rest assured we deliver it,” he says.
Douglas started this job at the Amazon CLE2 Fulfillment Center in North Randall back in December after moving from Tiffin. His family stayed behind with plans to look for a home in Cleveland later, but the stay-at-home order changed everything, and Douglas was also unable to visit them on weekends.
"We decided since I’m in Cleveland and they’re in Tiffin, it would be better if I just stayed up here during the stay-at-home Order to keep them safe," he explained.
Douglas hasn’t seen his wife and two young children in at least six weeks. His wife was laid off, but he’s thankful she is able to take care of the family safely at home while he continues to provide.
"The fact that I can FaceTime with them very often, I still read books to them before bedtime—which is a lot of fun for me—and it makes me feel really good that my wife is home with them, taking care of them and they’re not at any risk," he said. "My [5-year-old] daughter doesn’t understand it; she wants to come visit, so we tell her there’s some germs in Cleveland and we don’t want her to get sick and I’ll be home after the germs go away.”
Through it all, Douglas believes he’s making a difference.
"Whether you’re getting hand sanitizer or toilet paper or even a coloring book like my daughter ordered on Amazon during the stay-at-home order…I’m helping people stay happy and healthy."
This weekend Douglas finally plans to see his family in person, and he and his wife will begin house hunting in Cleveland.