By MADISON GRADY
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted every community. In response, some Jericho students have stepped up to make this time more bearable for those in need.
Songs for Hope
Freshman Amanda S. organized a virtual concert for the senior citizen community called Songs for Hope. “They don’t have any visitors because they can’t see their families, and it’s really sad,” she added.
Amanda invited all Jericho students to submit videos sharing their passion and talent for singing or playing a musical instrument. Amanda received numerous submissions and created an hour long concert video for senior citizens to view. “It will hopefully make them feel happy and brighten up their day,” Amanda said.
Amanda wishes to send the video to as many people as possible. She has been speaking with Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers and believes that they will be able to help her reach many nursing homes across Long Island. “The more the better,” Amanda said. “It would be amazing if we could reach all of them.”
Amanda is using her talent for singing as an opportunity to bring joy to others during these rough times.
Cookies and Car Parade
Another Jericho student, freshman Allie M., who participated in Amanda’s Songs for Hope, has performed many of her own acts of kindness. Since Allie is a girl scout, she decided to use the surplus from the cancelled cookie season to spread gratitude and positivity to first responders. Community members were asked via social media to donate money to help Allie buy the cookies. Allie then delivered the cookies to the Jericho Fire Department, Jericho Police Department and two hospitals. All of the workers had a great response to Allie’s generous deed. “They were super thankful,” Allie said.
She also performed several other simple acts of kindness such as posting uplifting messages on her home’s window and participating in a car parade that visited hospitals and fire departments.
Allie included heart-felt notes with her girl scout cookie donations as an additional sweet treat for the essential workers.
Essential Lunches
Jericho freshman Khushie S. also wanted to thank healthcare workers for their hard work. Her father is a physician who is not working in the hospital right now, but he told her from experience that healthcare workers do not have much time to eat. So, Khushie decided to raise money to deliver lunches to people working in hospitals. “It’s a small token of appreciation for what they’re doing for the community,” she said.
She set up a Go Fund Me page for people to donate money to her cause. Her initial goal was $2,000, and she reached that goal in just three days. “At first, I was only going to do two or three hospitals,” Khushie said. However, people continued to donate, so Khushie continued to deliver lunches.
On April 1st, 2020, Khushie delivered 100 sandwiches from the Se-Port Deli to Stony Brook Hospital. She also visited LIJ, North Shore, NYU Winthrop and NUMC. “They were really grateful, they almost teared up!” she said.
For Khushie, the most rewarding aspect of her experience was seeing the workers smile after going through such a difficult time. “They are seeing a lot of people dying every single day,” she said.
Healthcare workers at Winthrop Hospital show their gratitude for Kushie’s lunch donations.
Online Tutoring
Students have also come together to help with education in our own community. Jericho E Tutors is a group of students who decided to volunteer their time to offer free tutoring during the distance learning period. “The main objective was to make learning more accessible for students,” said co-founders of Jericho E Tutor juniors Edgar M. and William H.
They wanted to be able to supplement learning for students during this difficult period. Jericho E Tutors currently has 12 tutors, and nearly 20 middle and high school students enrolled in the program. “It’s certainly a very rewarding experience to be able to help other students during this time, especially because we as students understand how difficult it can be to adapt to these new circumstances,” Edgar said.
The tutors do face challenges by tutoring online instead of in person. However, they have become more familiar with tools like screen sharing to increase effectiveness. “Overall, I think that we’re getting used to this method of teaching. We’re also getting better at it,” William said.
These community-minded Jericho students remind us that even during difficult times, there is alway time to help others.