Going Strong Against COVID-19, Scientology Volunteer Ministers Assist the Community With Tools for Safety and Prevention 

With California grappling with escalating COVID-19 cases, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers of the San Jose area rapidly went to work to help their community. 

To help their communities get through the pandemic, Volunteer Ministers from the San Jose Church of Scientology are providing educational booklets—basic information on how germs spread, why masks are effective, how to put on a mask, how to wash your hands and how to stay well. They distribute three booklets: How to Keep Yourself & Others Well, How to Protect Yourself & Others with a Mask & Gloves and How to Prevent the Spread of Illness with Isolation.

The most popular languages for distribution of the booklets in San Jose are English, Spanish and Chinese. Teams of volunteers have brought them to restaurants for their takeout customers, to grocery stores, pharmacies, banks and shops. More than 100 businesses received displays inviting patrons to take the booklets. Volunteers have also visited some 700 households to make these available to families throughout the community.

“There’s too much bad news out there and I see fear in my customers’ eyes and in their attitudes,” said the manager of a grocery store. “I truly appreciate that you are giving out solutions rather than contributing to the bad news.”

“Thank you so much,” said the manager of a bank. He put the booklets on the front island so all customers could see them and take them. 

At a donut shop, a staffer grabbed the booklets as soon as the volunteers arrived and started to hand them out to patrons. 

“California is really lagging behind most of the country,” said one of the volunteers from the Church of Scientology of San Jose. “But if everyone applied the simple information in these booklets, we could end this pandemic. That’s why it is so important to us to reach as many people as we can with this vital information.”

The booklets come in custom-designed boxes that fold into counter displays and invite people to “please take one.” On the back of the booklet, a QR code connects to the How to Stay Well Prevention Resource Center on the Scientology website, where these and other prevention materials are available in 21 languages. Booklets and graphics may be downloaded free of charge and brief videos illustrate the most important information.

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Distribution of the educational booklets began in May in communities around Scientology Churches and Missions across the globe. The Church of Scientology International Dissemination and Distribution Center made this possible by printing and shipping 5 million copies of Stay Well booklets.

The Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. It constitutes one of the largest and most visible international independent relief forces. A Volunteer Minister’s mandate is to be “a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.”