One Year into the COVID-19 Pandemic: Heroes Serving Heroes Remains ‘Mission Critical’
One year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic changed our world. All of us have been affected. We have mourned the loss of friends and family as we have made changes to protect those we love. At the Exchange, we came together to quickly transform operations and serve those who serve when our support was needed the most.
Despite overwhelming obstacles, the Exchange team did what it has done for more than 125 years: lean forward to preserve and protect the mission-essential benefits we are honored to provide Warfighters and their families in all 50 states and more than 30 countries.
Team Exchange’s resiliency during these challenging times has set a very high bar. Military leaders around the world have taken note of the extraordinary efforts taken to protect the force.
The Exchange has fulfilled more than 20,000 curbside pickup orders since March 2020.
For example, Col. Stephen Snelson, former 6th Air Refueling Wing commander at MacDill AFB, said, “We know your staff is working around the clock to meet increased demand, ensure shelves are stocked and that your facilities are clean. What you are doing is mission critical to the base and our service members as we maintain our readiness to respond whenever and wherever our nation’s leaders ask us to go. We recognize there are family pressures and concerns in this crisis, but you continue to serve those of us who serve. You are the unsung heroes.”
Throughout the pandemic, Team Exchange has been heroes serving heroes. One of the most effective ways the Exchange continued to serve was by pivoting to contactless and low-contact shopping.
Since March 2020, the Exchange fulfilled:
- More than 20,000 curbside pickup orders
- Nearly 300,000 buy online pickup in store orders
- Approximately 8,000 personal shopper orders for quarantined troops
As ShopMyExchange.com orders surged by nearly 70% in 2020, our team rallied to meet the significant increases in demand through the online channel. The Exchange fleet traveled an additional 74,212 miles to push critical supplies to military communities in need. Overseas, Exchange associates served more than 1 million nutritious grab-and-go school meals to Warfighters’ children learning remotely.
We focused on our teammates as we executed the Exchange mission, providing critical training and equipment including:
- Safety, sanitation and wellness training for nearly 13,000 frontline teammates
- More than a half million units of personal protective equipment, including:
- 500,000 masks
- 30,000 units of hand sanitizer
- 13,000 boxes of gloves
More than a half million units of personal protective equipment, including 500,000 masks, have been provided for Exchange teammates.
Because of you, the Exchange will emerge from the pandemic operationally and financially stronger than before. While many businesses have been forced to lay off or furlough employees, we have hired more than 9,200 new teammates into critical positions as associates have retired and moved on over the past year—a measure of our commitment to our “family serving family” core value.
Thank you for your exceptional work during this most challenging year. Team Exchange has been a beacon of safety and security for our Warfighters and their families through these tough times. Please stay diligent in taking safety precautions as we move forward.
One Team, One Fight!
Tom
