The Church of Scientology chose to act immediately—energetically, and effectively.
After significant research and compilation of resources, the Church developed a Stay Well program for its staff, parishioners and facilities, and for everyone else in their communities and the world at large.
At the core of the Stay Well program is a comprehensive series of informational booklets filled with safety guidelines and protocols for everyday living to prevent infection and the spread of illness. The specifications spanned from standards for hand washing and social distancing, to criteria for interactions in public.
Conducted under the maxim of “An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure,” the Church delivered pounds of prevention.
The Stay Well booklets cover three distinct stages in battling the pandemic: How to Keep Yourself & Others Well; How to Prevent the Spread of Illness with Isolation; and How to Protect Yourself & Others with a Mask & Gloves.
The booklets, along with downloadable and printable signage for businesses and homes, and further materials for the Stay Well campaign, were created and published in 21 languages at the Church of Scientology massive International Dissemination and Distribution Center in Los Angeles, from where they were shipped to local Churches around the world. On the ground, teams of Scientology Volunteer Ministers distributed the materials throughout their communities.
Concurrently, Stay Well introduced an urgent safety and sanitation regimen that combined a highly effective antimicrobial disinfectant fogging process with a topical sanitizing solution, expressly for disinfecting facilities—including houses of worship of all religions, businesses, emergency personnel stations, nonprofit organizations, government agencies and more.
From Compton to Pasadena, from Monrovia to Bell Gardens, from Hermosa to Calabasas and Santa Clarita, Church staff and volunteers provided sanitizing and fogging protection to 82 police and fire stations and sanitized nearly 1,400 police cars.
At home in Los Angeles, Scientology Volunteer Ministers began the campaign almost as soon as citywide lockdowns had begun, early in 2020. Their first task was protecting the crucial professionals who were occupied full time with protecting others.
From Compton to Pasadena, from Monrovia to Bell Gardens, from Hermosa to Calabasas and Santa Clarita, Church staff and volunteers provided sanitizing and fogging protection to 82 police and fire stations and sanitized nearly 1,400 police cars.
“The role of the Church of Scientology has been great, coming out and providing us with these resources,” said Hermosa Beach Police Chief Paul LeBaron. “They’ve always been in support of law enforcement.”
First responders were also supplied with Stay Well booklets. “We really learned a lot,” an El Monte police sergeant said. “We were able to pass on what we learned to other organizations.”
Added recently retired El Monte Chief David Reynoso of the Church’s volunteer efforts: “Their generosity is huge—something we can never repay.”
But the Church didn’t stop with first responders. In Los Angeles, teams provided materials and resources, including 380,000 Stay Well booklets, to more than 2,800 essential businesses around the city, as well as homes and individuals.
In addition, all the materials and guides are made fully available through the Church website, Scientology.org/staywell/booklets.
“The only glimmer of hope we saw coming was when the Scientologist sanitization team came voluntarily. They said ‘Look, we can come and help you.’ ...The team sanitized the entire temple,” [the Sikh representative] said, “making our congregations safe. And that allowed us to move forward.”
The Stay Well campaign ultimately served more than 40,000 establishments, including distribution of 7.5 million Stay Well booklets and sanitization of facilities from Southern California to South Florida to South Africa.
In Birmingham, England, where Volunteer Ministers cleaned multiple mosques, Catholic churches and other houses of worship, the public affairs representative of a Sikh temple said that the Covid-19 virus had brought the temple to a standstill. “Nobody was helping,” he said. “The government were literally helpless.
“The only glimmer of hope we saw coming was when the Scientologist sanitization team came voluntarily. They said ‘Look, we can come and help you.’ And that was music to our ears.” The team sanitized the entire temple, he said, “making our congregations safe. And that allowed us to move forward.”
In Miami, among the many religious and government facilities Volunteer Ministers disinfected was the Honduras Consulate building. “In this time of crisis, a helping hand is really needed to provide the necessary support for the people most in need,” said Ricardo Estrada, the Honduras Consul.
Similarly, in Orlando, Volunteer Ministers offered the resources of the Stay Well program to numerous houses of worship and nonprofits, where it was gratefully accepted. “I really want to thank Scientology for the time they take to put their life in danger, to be the front line and to make sure everybody else is safe,” said the pastor of the Way to Calvary Church of the Nazarene.
The pastor added that when he read the Stay Well material, he took away information so he could share it with his congregation.
Of the Stay Well booklet, another minister said that while it was given to him and his parishioners free of charge, “it has things in it that are worth a million dollars.
“The way the Scientology ministry is doing this, it benefits everybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white or what color you are, it benefits you.”
The Stay Well campaign further included a series of public service videos that received a total of 28 industry awards.
All the Stay Well materials are online at www.Scientology.org/StayWell.
