By JERECHO STAFF
Freshman Madison Grady decided to use her time in quarantine to bring joy to those who are actively working to keep us all safe and healthy throughout this pandemic. With the help of her mother and grandmother, she raised over $1,500 to buy lunches for health care workers.
With the money raised on Grady’s GoFundMe page, “Lunches for Nursing Home/Rehab Healthcare Workers,” she was able to donate lunches to workers at both Excel Rehabilitation and Nursing Center and Central Island Healthcare. “I didn’t directly deliver the lunches, but I was so excited to receive pictures of each of their reactions. Although they were wearing masks, I could tell that they had huge smiles on their faces,” said Grady.
Irene Carr, the Director of Recreation at Central Island Healthcare, sent Grady an email expressing her gratitude for the lunches. In it she included the following quote by Winston Churchill, “‘We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
Grady’s drive to support local health care workers stems from her strong connection to the community. She said, “I have many healthcare workers in my family, so I wanted to give back to that community–specifically workers at nursing homes and rehabilitation centers.”
Grady’s grandmother and retired nurse Noreen Grady enjoyed sharing this experience with her granddaughter. “With several healthcare workers in our family, we knew firsthand that those on the front lines could use our support and appreciation during this difficult time. We all enjoyed working together to set up this project, help out local restaurants and ultimately put a smile on the faces of those heroes,” said Noreen.
Grady hopes to continue supporting other essential workers. “I plan to continue to raise funds for my Go Fund Me. I also want to do some random acts of kindness to put smiles on the faces of other essential workers such as mail carriers, delivery people and sanitation workers,” said Grady. She has already started expanding her work by sending videos of herself reading children’s books to younger students at her dance studio.
This experience greatly impacted Grady. She said, “It is so rewarding to be able to affect the lives of others, whether we are in a global pandemic or when the world isn’t turned upside down.”