Earthquake in Utah

On Wednesday morning, Utah was rattled by a 5.7 magnitude earthquake.  The damage at our warehouse was extensive, though we are extremely thankful that no one was killed, which was an incredible blessing given that many heavy objects fell from the roof and from racks of inventory.

We are in the midst of assessing damages, and our best guess is that we won't be able to ship out any products until early next week at the earliest - please know how sorry we are for this delay.  All orders that were submitted after 10:30 am EST on Tuesday March 17 will go out as soon as possible.

We will send out another notice as soon as we are up and running - until then, if you need to place an order, please feel free to do so with the understanding that it won't be fulfilled until our warehouse is back to being operational.  Our suggestion for anyone wanting to place an order is to consider waiting to do so until you receive an update via this newsletter once all is normalized.

For all those who placed orders before Tuesday at 10:30 am EST, please know that the postal service, UPS, and DHL are operating on fumes right now given the volume that is being generated by Amazon and other e-commerce giants as people strive to stay at home to support social distancing.  So while your order is en route, it may take a few days longer than it normally would to reach you.

***

In many ways, it almost feels like an apocalypse of sorts with the COVID-19 crisis, a meltdown of the global financial system, and the increasing number of earthquakes around the world, including the one we just had in Utah.  

Surprisingly, at my very core, I feel an odd sense of opportunity.  This feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to let those in our circle of life know how much they mean to us.  

If you are healthy and able to, I would encourage you to consider reaching out to people you know who are elderly or living on their own at any age.  Many people aren't able to build a stockpile of non-perishable goods simply because they don't have the funds to do so.  And for many in today's society, social distancing translates to loneliness and depression that can lead to despair.  

Please consider checking in with loved ones on a regular basis with phone calls and video chat if available.  If you know of elderly people who don't have the means to keep a stockpile of food and you have the means, please consider doing a grocery run for them and leaving what could be a life-changing surprise by their door.

This is our opportunity to let those we are connected to and care for know in no uncertain terms what they mean to us.  This is our opportunity to take care of those who can really use our support.  

Let's do what we can with our time and our resources to be a beacon of light and love for those around us.  

***

I will send out pertinent updates via future newsletters and also here at our site, but I've also decided to utilize Twitter to share more real-time information in the days and years ahead - no other platform allows for instant sharing of snippets of information globally.  

So if you aren't conected with me on Twitter, please feel free to do so here:

https://twitter.com/Ben_Kim

The latest study that I read indicates that close to 80 percent of SARS-CoV2 infections have been via asymptomatic people i.e. people who appeared healthy - this is excellent evidence to support extreme social distancing measures at this time.  

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/03/13/science.abb3221....

If you know of any local food-related businesses that are still doing their best to operate and serve their communty via drive through, takeout, and delivery, please consider supporting them.  The too-big-to-fail corporations will always be first on the list for federal bailouts while the bedrock of our communities - those who put in the hours and take the risk to run small businesss - are really left on their own to do all within their power to survive.

If, for example, you happen to live in the Los Gatos area of northern California, when in the mood for takeout, please consider calling on Southern Kitchen Los Gatos:  

http://www.southernkitchenlg.com/ - phone number:  408-354-7515.

If you have loved ones or neighbours who are health care workers or first responders and are working long hours in high risk environments, please consider doing what you can to show your support and express gratitude for their service.  
Sending best wishes to all,

Ben

Thought of the Moment:

The Chinese character for "Crisis" is made of two characters, one representing danger and the other opportunity.