Rising To The Call
Opinion
May 18, 2020
Jamel Dobbins, 31, handing out food at Hillside Elementary School in Montclair, N.J., on March 17.
Amid the pandemic, New Jerseyans are finding creative ways to help others.
Life has changed drastically in New Jersey in the past six weeks. The state has reported more than 146,000 cases of Covid-19, at least 10,000 people have died, and Gov. Phil Murphy’s stay-at-home order has been extended indefinitely. In the state with the most cases and deaths after New York, residents are volunteering time, energy and money and businesses are using their resources to help others, and ensure that the needy in their communities are fed.
Restaurants are donating meals. Volunteers with Toni’s Kitchen, the food ministry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Montclair, bag and deliver meals to their neighbors. Volunteers with Umbrella, a company that connects older adults with nearby neighbors who can lend a hand, shop for groceries and provide contact-less delivery to seniors.
In East Rutherford, the Meadowlands Y.M.C.A. hosts a food bank that brings in over a mile of cars weekly; it is also hosting blood drives with the Red Cross and running an emergency day care center for front-line workers. Eva’s Village, a Paterson social service organization that aids people struggling with poverty, hunger and homelessness, has adjusted to treat patients who are also battling with coronavirus.
Engineering students at Rowan University in Glassboro work with their professor on intubation boxes for local hospitals, and Nauti Spirits Distillery in Cape May has teamed up with a local pharmacy to produce hand sanitizer. Doctors are offering telehealth services and social workers are volunteering their time by calling older people in hopes of easing anxiety and loneliness.
“This is a game changer for all of us,” said Jonathan Arredondo, the president of the Nutley Volunteer Emergency and Rescue Squad. “It’s the passion and personal belief of helping others that keeps us going. It’s a huge sacrifice that we make so we can serve others.”
Susan Diaz DeSantis, with her 20-year-old daughter, Jillian, delivered meals from the food ministry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Montclair on March 28
In Clifton, volunteers with SMILE for Charity prepared food packages at the Palestinian American Community Center on May 9. SMILE for Charity has been providing more than 400 meal packages a week during the pandemic.
“We didn’t have the funding in place, but we decided that if there was ever a time to meet the challenge, this was it. We just pushed ahead and then the community started to donate money and food so we could meet this pandemic’s challenge. The true essence of giving is that you continue even when it seems impossible.”
The Newark restaurants La Cocina and Robert’s Pizzeria are now devoted to getting meals to people in low-income housing and retirement homes.
Lisa Alexander and Shaun Ananko of Grow It Green in Morristown, which normally focuses on education but is now concentrating on providing food for the community during the pandemic.
“At the end of the day, the most important thing is to be humble and grateful that we can serve the needs of people both out on the front lines and within our own company by keeping them employed.”
Jeffrey Mayer of LBU, a Paterson company that usually produces customized promotional items like tote bags. Its factory is now making face masks and gowns.
More than 40,000 meals have been distributed at the Meadowlands Y.M.C.A. in East Rutherford since mid-March.
“I am committed to the nonprofit industry. While this pandemic has been terrible and challenging, it has provided the clarity of my mission. To see everyone coming in everyday and giving of themselves shows me that this is the right path.”
A blood donor at the Meadowlands Y.M.C.A. on April 28.
Meals at Eva’s Village, a social-services nonprofit in Paterson, are now served outside.
Kevin Bascom, left, and Brad Ransom of Nauti Spirits Distillery in Cape May, which is producing hand sanitizer instead of its usual gin, vodka and rum.
“By each of us doing our part, we will get through this together and come out stronger and better than ever. ”
Vicki Beckerman, a social worker who lives in West Orange, has been volunteering by reaching out to elderly people by phone.