Westchester Teens Help Boost Morale at Area Hospital ERs
By Samantha Schnupp
A handful of local Westchester teens are helping to support the community by providing meals for frontline health care workers during their shifts.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, frontline workers have had to adapt to long hours with little time for breaks. Many have found it hard to find time to prepare themselves meals while working.
Five local teen-age boys – Christopher Barnaby, Shane Daughtry, John Prince, Laurence Brady Jr. and Anderson Brady – formed the group Friends4Frontlines to help provide meals for health care workers on the night shift, arranging for food donations to local hospitals, including White Plains Hospital, Westchester Medical Center, Phelps, Blythedale Children’s Hospital and Burke Rehabilitation Hospital.
On Apr. 11, Friends4Frontlines created a GoFundMe page to collect donations. The group raised money in the spring to have nearly 2,000 meals delivered to health care workers. The food purchases, totaling about $11,000, also helped restaurants in Greenburgh, Ardsley, Elmsford, White Plains and Valhalla survive during the pandemic.
“My favorite part is how thankful the health care workers are when they see us with the donations,” said Daughtry, a Chappaqua resident who is a junior at Fordham Preparatory School. “They send us pictures and messages of how appreciative they are and what it means to them. It makes me feel good knowing that I can also make a difference during these troubling times.”
With the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Friends4Frontlines decided this fall that their deliveries were once again sorely needed to help those staffing emergency rooms fortify themselves and to boost morale.
Because of social distancing, the group cannot deliver together. Instead, each member contacts various hospitals to find out if they accept food donations. They contact local delis and restaurants to order the food and pick it up and deliver it to the hospitals at 10 p.m. with the help of their parents.
Most of the hospitals do not allow long visitations, so Friends4Frontlines hand-delivers the food while wearing gloves and masks. Their deliveries also include a thank you note to the workers.
“I think it is important what we do because it shows how our efforts can also inspire other communities to do the same thing and help,” said Laurence Brady Jr., a junior at Canterbury School in New Milford, Conn.
He also has the perspective of having an uncle, Randy Taylor, who is an emergency room doctor.
Friends4Frontlines last month re-started its fundraising efforts that is expected to last until at least New Year’s.
Prince said he had the experience of having his grandparents need attention at local hospitals this year and is grateful for the sacrifices medical staff are making across the area.
“I know that (the) work they do is essential, and they are risking their own health and that of their families every time they go to work,” he said. “Giving them some good food is a small token of appreciation we can give them. Plus knowing that Friends4Frontlines is helping to support local restaurants and delis who have been hit hard financially from (the coronavirus) as well.”
To consider donating to Friends4Frontline’s efforts to help emergency room staff and local restaurants, visit its GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/f/Friends4Frontlines.
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