A call to God’s service can come from unexpected places, and one came to our congregation, Church of the Atonement in Tenafly, at the end of March. It was ten days since schools had been indefinitely shuttered, and a week since the diocese had instructed churches to temporarily cease gathering at their church buildings. COVID-19 had just crossed the Hudson River and was insidiously and stealthily infiltrating our suburban New York City enclaves. This was all new – for all of us – and most of us were uneasy.
Our Vestry made the decision to begin weekly phone calls to our parishioners, just to reach out and check in. My first phone call was to one of our church families, and the wife picked up. My casual query, “So how are you doing?” began an unexpected conversation between us. I learned that she is usually a nurse at The Center for Ambulatory Surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center, but since COVID came, her unit had become a COVID unit. She said the situation at the hospital was dire; entire floors were now COVID floors, including the operating rooms. She said there were COVID patients everywhere, that nobody had seen anything like this before. Ever.
As elsewhere around the country, there was not enough PPE, specifically N95 masks, and the staff was fearful of contracting the virus themselves and/or bringing it home to their families. We talked about different options for protection against the virus, and she said that homemade masks were not effective for hospital workers because they didn't create a seal. Hearing the details of the COVID onslaught was truly heartbreaking, like calling someone on the front lines of a raging war.
I asked how we could help. She told me that restaurants and citizens were generously donating food, so everyone was being fed. I asked if there was anything else that she and her co-workers would possibly need. She responded that they could use bottled water for the doctors and nurses. COVID-19 was forcing healthcare workers to stay on their units for their entire 12-hour shifts, so anything they needed had to be brought in. I told her we would bring them bottled water.
I conveyed this conversation to our Vestry, and everyone was immediately on board. I also asked another nurse, who works at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, if they had the same need. She said water would be great for them, as well.
Since then, our congregation has raised enough funds to purchase and deliver several dozen cases of bottled water to our healthcare heroes at Hackensack Medical Center and Holy Name Hospital. With the help of my two teenaged sons, we have made deliveries at approximately five-day intervals since the beginning of April and will continue to do so until the water is no longer needed.
It is our hope that the nurses I spoke with, their colleagues, and all of the healthcare workers battling this disease, know that they are in our collective thoughts and prayers: that our congregations and communities are more grateful for their selfless service than they will likely ever know. Hopefully, our small contribution to this great crisis has eased their burden and lifted their spirits, if even just a little. We have been honored to help.
