80 newyork| march30–april12, 2020
onmarch15,alongwith1.1millionother
students,MaeveFoleylearnedthat public
schoolsinNewYorkCity wouldbeclosed.
The17-year-oldhigh-schoolsenior, the
youngest offour, realizedthat shewould
likelycomplete herfinalyearofhighschool
fromthecomfortofherparents’Carroll
Gardensapartment—andshe stillhad
weekstogountilvirtuallearningbegan.She
wasridiculouslybored.
“I reallylike beinginschool,andI really
likehelpingpeople,” Foley,whoplayfully
describesherselfashavinga “NewYork
superioritycomplex,”says.“It feltweird to be
sittingaround,notdoinganythingtohelp.”
Herresponse:postingflyersaroundthe
neighborhoodofferingtopickupgroceries
andprescriptionsforanyoneovertheage of
65.“Ifiguredgoingtothestorecouldbea
scarysituationforolderpeoplewhomay be
immunocompromised.I can’t make a large-
scaledifferencein termsof fightingthevirus,
butthisseemedlikesomethingsmallI could
do.”In allfiveboroughs,peoplelike Foleyare
steppinguptohelpneighborsinneed.“AsI
washangingtheflyers,” shesays,“a coupleof
completestrangersvolunteeredtojoinme.”
“Thisremindsmeofthetimeafter9/11
whenpeoplecametogether,”saysKate
Ramsey, a public-healthprofessionalof 20
years.“Andwehopeit’ll bethesamenow.”
RamseyrecentlyconnectedwithGrace
Linderholm,a fellowBrookly king
toorganizea grocery-delivery the
neighborhood.Afterputtingtogethera
safety protocolwiththehelpofLinder-
holm’smother, a physician,andGeoff
Shively,whohadexperienceinlogistics,
theylaunchedtheircollective:Brooklyn
covid- 19 MutualAid.Withina fewdays,
thegrouphadat tractedthreedozenvolun-
teers.Now, there are 82ofthem.Organiz-
ingtheef forthasgivenRamsey a senseof
controlinanotherwisefraughtsituation.
“Doingsomethinggoodisgoodforyour
mentalhealth,”shesays.“It helpsyouget
outofyourhead.”
Anotherlocalgroup,called Invisible
Hands,alreadyhasnorthof7,900volun-
teers,thankstoitssleekwebsiteandsocial-
media-savvyfounders.“Thiswholeorgani-
zationstartedwitha Facebookpost that was
like,‘Whoamongmy friendsdoI knowthat
is able-bodiedandyoungandwantstohelp
outotherpeoplewhoareat highriskjust by
grabbinggroceriesorrunningerrandsor
littlethings?,’ ” saysco-founderHealyChait,
anNYUundergrad.
“Peopleunderestimateourgeneration,”
shesays.“Nottosay that allof thethousands
ofourvolunteersaremillennials,butI’d say
anoverwhelmingamountisthat genera-
tionaldivideofyoungpeoplehelpingolder
people.”Like anersatz city agency,Invisible
Handscreatedflyersandhadthemtrans-
latedinto 13 differentlanguages,including
Gujarati,Bengali,Vietnamese,andGreek,
byitsnetworkofvolunteers.Itsfootprint
stretchesfromLongIslandtoNewJersey,
andit’ s madeover 400 deliveriesrequested
overthephoneandonline.“We like tosay,”
saysChait,“thatjust becausewe’redoing
socialdistancing,that doesn’t meanyou
havetodoemotionaldistancing.” ■
HELP
SOMEONE
Or,at the veryleast, be neighborly.
BYNIKITA RICHARDSON
ANDMOST
IMPORTANT...
44
GIVE TO RESTAURANT-RELIEF FUNDS
- Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation
restaurantworkerscf.org
- Restaurant Workers Relief Program
leeinitiative.org
- One Fair Wage
ofwemergencyfund.org
- The James Beard Foundation Food and
Beverage Industry Relief Fund
jamesbeard.org
- The U.S. Bartenders’ Guild National Charity
Foundation
usbgfoundation.org
- CORE: Children of Restaurant Employees
coregives.org
- Your Favorite NYC Restaurants
grubstreet.com/2020/03/coronavirus-
restaurants-crowdfunding.html
- Golden Rule Charity
goldenrulecharity.org
DONATE MASKS AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES
- Mask Match
mask-match.com
- Donate PPE
donateppe.org
- New York Governor’s Office
[email protected]
- Masks for Docs
masksfordocs.com
- Get Us PPE
getusppe.org
- MedSupplyDrive
medicalsupplydrive.com
- Seattle Mask Brigade
sites.google.com/view/seattle-mask-donations
SUPPORT FRONT-LINE WORKERS
- NYC Health + Hospitals
nychhc.networkforgood.com
- Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention Foundation
cdcfoundation.org
- Direct Relief
directrelief.org
- International Medical Corps
internationalmedicalcorps.org
71
More
Ways to
Help
