Coronavirus

NYC Teachers Support Healthcare Workers By Delivering Meals

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What to Know

  • Nearly 1,000 meals have been delivered in just three weeks -- thanks to the hard work of two New York City teachers behind Brooklyn Cares
  • So far, they’ve raised nearly $17,000 to provide meals to frontline workers
  • The meals are going to healthcare facilities big and small, including Cobble Hill Health Center -- a nursing home hit hard by COVID-19

Two New York City teachers are going above and beyond to support frontline workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly 1,000 meals have been delivered in just three weeks -- thanks to the hard work of the co-founders behind Brooklyn Cares.

“It's been a very grassroots thing for us because neither one of us in the nonprofit world,” Michele Levin, of Brooklyn Cares, said.

Meanwhile, Stephanie Schragger, also of Brooklyn Cares, says the meals have been possible thanks to the support they've recieved.

“We are so overwhelmed by the support that we’ve had from people," Schragger said.

The pair made all of this happen while juggling their full-time jobs -- teaching at St Ann’s School and home schooling their own young kids.

Levin said that they've managed to squeeze in working on the grassroots project "in the little pockets of time before class, after class, when our children are in the bed, or on the weekends.”

They gladly took on the stress, they said, after witnessing the devastating impact of coronavirus on the healthcare system and neighborhood restaurants -- and that's when they decided to help both groups at the same time by launching Brooklyn Cares.

So far, they’ve raised nearly $17,000 to provide meals to frontline workers. The meals are going to healthcare facilities big and small, including Cobble Hill Health Center -- a nursing home hit hard by COVID-19.  

However, the pair isn't done. They are actively raising more money with a goal of providing 1,500 meals by the end of the month.

“We are really hopeful we can keep the momentum going,” Schragger said.

As a special added touch, each meal is labeled with a rainbow -- designed by Levin's 5-year-old daughter.

“It's really been wonderful for me and Stephanie to keep busy with a sense of purpose," Levin said.

Doing this feels more like a calling for the teachers, since both have roots in medicine.

Levin's is a trained pediatrician and Schragger’s husband works in the field.

“It felt like this is the least we could do to try to make a difference," Schragger said.

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