Staff Report

 

Margaret Healy,  a flight nurse at SkyHealth, a joint venture between Northwell Health and Yale New Haven Health,  has been picking up shifts in the ICU to help out her fellow frontliners. Seeing first hand the need to help the frontline workers, she enlisted her daughter, Mar {Mary}, who was home from College,  and together they conceived of the idea to deliver care packages to frontline Doctors and Nurses.

 

Naming their endeavor, Code Frontline, the Larchmont residents reached out on social media, posting on Facebook’s Love Larchmont,  using word of mouth and telling friends of their intentions. Initially, they raised  $5000 to make the care packages that included individual drinks like  coffee or juice boxes, protein shakes, trail mix, granola bars, mints, candy and gummies.

 

Since the inception of the idea, they have delivered over 1,650 care packages to 28 different hospitals and organizations in the New York Metro Area. “We have delivered care packages to Long Island Jewish Medical Center, White Plains Hospital, North Shore University Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, Northern Westchester Medical Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Calvery Hospital-Hospice at Home, Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center and many more,” reveals Mar.

 

Margaret has used her connections and as they reach out to hospitals, they ask, “How many are in your unit?”,  so they know in advance how many care packages they will need to deliver.  Usually a delivery run will include 25 to 50 packages at each stop.

 

“People are so appreciative,” Mar explains. “They like that each package is individual, sometimes in a bag or a take out meal container. A sticker with the Code Frontline  logo is attached to each package and a separate poster that reads, “Thank you to our frontline. Love from Code Frontline,” accompanies the delivery.

 

This project has become a family affair, with Margaret’s 2 sons,  husband and Mar helping to pack each bundle.

 

On some days, the Healy family has made multiple stops and  delivered between 400 to 500 packages.

 

Mar, now a senior at Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, New York, says, “This initiative has drawn me to the non profit area after graduation. Code Frontline  has been a big time commitment. It has grown bigger than we expected. We so thank the community that has supported us and we appreciate all the thank you emails and notes that we receive from the recipients. Hospitals and the  hospital workers are still struggling with the coranovavirus,” relates Mar.

 

“We hope to reach as many frontliners as possible!”

 

Donations to Code Frontline are still being accepted.

 

To donate individually wrapped and sealed items for care packages, checks or questions,  email codefrontline@gmail.com for instructions.

 

To donate via Venmo, use venmo@mhealy. To follow on instagram: @codefrontline for updates.