COVID-19 Statement

updated 3/14/2022

Our small family operated business is working hard to remain true to our commitment to our non-profit partners and to our mission to help them fundraise with rain barrels. We are also committed to helping homeowners

  • save money on water bills,
  • collect free rainwater,
  • conserve drinking water,
  • grow bigger and healthier plants and vegetables with chlorine-free and fluoride-free rainwater and
  • mitigate potential for flooding while addressing climate change.

While many small businesses struggle to survive during COVID-19, our experience found more people at home, tending to their gardens, so demand for home delivery of rain barrels increased significantly and offset declines due to the cancellation of municipal rain barrel contracts. As we head into a third season in the shadow of COVID-19, we are fully prepared to provide safe and efficient delivery services to our customers, on behalf of our non-profit and municipal partners.  

However, COVID-19 still has an effect on our season and has caused supply chains to be chaotic. Product prices and availability of items can change. Due to supply chain issues, some items may not be in stock all season long. We hope any inventory level problems will be resolved quickly but please understand that this is not a factor we can control.

Our contactless home delivery program makes fundraising easy in these unusual times!

We were providing contactless home delivery services long before COVID arrived. Throughout the pandemic, we trained contractors and coached non-profit partners to provide these services too.

For 2022, our partners have choices to host safe pickup events, to conduct home deliveries with our assistance or to have our contractors perform home deliveries OR to have both pickup and delivery options. 

At RainBarrel.ca and RainBarrelFundraising.com, we have always taken health and safety issues very seriously.

For more than a decade, our fundraising partners have been advised regarding site plans and health and safety measures that ensure the operation of safe and efficient rain barrel distribution events. COVID-19 however, has everyone rethinking how we live our daily lives, whether it is grocery shopping, going to school or work, and for some, hosting a rain barrel event.

COVID-19 vaccines have rolled out, but it isn't clear when everyone will be safe. Social distancing accompanied by wearing a mask and frequent hand hygiene continue to be common sense recommendations and are core components to our updated program.

Groups conducting rain barrel distribution events (if permitted and deemed safe) have been briefed regarding social distancing best practices including:

  • No event involvement by vulnerable segments of the population.
  • Outdoor events preferred. "Drive up to pick up" when possible.
  • Make available alcohol-based hand sanitizer for event organizers and customers.
  • Frequent hand-washing.
  • Wear gloves.
  • Wear face masks.
  • No touching of your eyes, nose or mouth and wash hands thoroughly before and after.
  • Cough or sneeze into an arm, not a hand.
  • Handle cash with gloves or go with prepaid only options.
  • Place products on tables or on the ground for supervised customer, self-service pickup.
  • Barriers or rain barrels as barriers to serve customers from an appropriate social distance
  • Minimize the number of people serving customers.
  • Minimize the number of people in close proximity to each other.
  • Consider "drive up to pick up" format to reduce number of individuals circulating in the area
  • Stagger customer arrival times and give reminders to maintain social distance. (we have a helpful app to schedule customers' pick-up)
  • Try to schedule a truck to arrive early to provide more time to organize for a social distance set up.

Home delivery services for prepaid online orders were made available in many communities and will be expanded to more communities. We are committed to social distancing in this process including:

  1. Only one driver per truck and practicing social distancing during load/unload.
  2. Practicing frequent and proper hand hygiene.
  3. Utilizing a state-of-the-art online ordering system.
  4. "Drop and go" home delivery with no personal contact with customers.

Our yard and office are also set up for best practices in social distancing:

All of our support staff work remotely from their own homes.

CURRENT PLAN FOR ORDERS (updated 3/2/2022)

In most cases customers have the option to pay with cash or to prepay online. For some sales, customers may find that prepayment will be the only acceptable option. 

The current plan for all sales that are offering DELIVERY ONLY is prepaid only.

Check the nearest truckload sale first and if there currently is no option in your area, join a waitlist to be notified of updates.

We are committed to the health and safety of our customers, fundraising partners and staff.

Thank you,

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