The volunteers on the socially-distanced frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic
As bars and restaurants closed, people crowded into grocery stores and daily news about New York City’s coronavirus outbreak became increasingly dire, Karen Tadross began making a plan. She and other board members of Bay Ridge Cares began meeting to discuss how the nonprofit could help southern Brooklyn through the crisis.
“This is what Bay Ridge Cares was built for and people expect us to lead at this point,” Tadross, the group’s president, told the members in a remote meeting. A few days later, a Google Doc went out on social media calling for young and healthy volunteers who could carry out tasks like grocery shopping, walking dogs and giving friendly calls to people throughout southern Brooklyn who cannot leave their homes.
Volunteers have since been paired one-on-one with households from Bay Ridge out to Marine Park to provide contact-free aid to neighbors at higher risk of having serious complications from COVID-19.