At our core, SOS is all about making the world a better place, one person at a time, starting with ourselves and our own communities, and then exploring our world to better it. We always put the safety of our travelers and volunteer staff first. Given the current situation regarding COVID -19 (Coronavirus), we have decided to postpone our 2020 trips, and will be evaluating our volunteer events on an on-going basis. Our goal will be to have these 2020 trips rebooked for 2021, and we are working out the logistics of these changes with our travelers and travel partners.
As an organization, our core values are: education, safety, respect, leadership, and community. Guided by these values, we will make decisions regarding our path forward, with deference to the advice of community health experts and the scientific community. We will always put safety first when it comes to the students and volunteers in our SOS family. At this time, we have no reported cases of COVID-19 in the SOS community, however, we are bracing for the potential eventual community spread here in San Antonio. As such, we will be reviewing all of our volunteer events as we go based on conditions as they are. We will act out of an abundance of caution, and most importantly, we will not contribute to community spread of the virus, nor do we want to contribute to the spread of fear or panic.
There will be those in our community who are already feeling the impacts of cancellations, and other decisions, and they will be needing our help. Our community organizations like the San Antonio Food Bank and Texas Diaper Bank will be needing our help now more than ever. We will make sure that these organizations are following and exceeding CDC guidelines on communicable disease prevention when we volunteer with them. I also recommend these tips from CDC on how to talk to kids about COVID-19. Again, the spread of panic is just as problematic, if not more so, than the spread of the virus, so it’s important that we educate ourselves and our children accordingly, with accurate information.
As I write this letter to you, there are still so many unanswered questions and there is much uncertainty in our world. Although the situation is difficult right now, I can envision a better future for all of us. We will learn from this crisis and good people all over the world will rise to the occasion to find medical solutions, government solutions, and community solutions, and we will eventually resume life as what we would consider normal. We will emerge from this situation stronger and more resilient, to see the dawn of a brighter day. When that day comes, we will be ready, bags packed, eyes eager, ready to learn, serve, and explore again.
Sincerely,
Amir Samandi
Executive Director and Founder of SOS
Endorsement: Raul Valencia, on behalf of the entire SOS Board of Directors
