Healy ΓÇÖ20 Aids Frontline Workers
7 May 2020 Healy 20 Aids Frontline Workers
While continuing her studies remotely this semester, Mary Mar Healy 20 has also distributed more than 2,000 care packages to medical professionals and essential workers at 38 hospitals in the epicenter of the pandemic in New York City.
Initiated by their mother, a flight nurse for SkyHealth, Healy and her brothers, including Patrick Healy 24, have assembled care packages from their Larchmont, N.Y. home. As cases continued to rise, they ramped up their efforts and established Code Frontline, a non-profit group that provides goods to frontline workers throughout New York Citys metropolitan area.
Our care packages include items such as drinks, power bars, candy and makeup wipes. For the medical professionals who are worn out or anxious, we wanted to give them one less thing to worry about, like a snack during a long shift or a moment of self-care, says the political science and philosophy major.
While Code Frontline began by distributing to hospitals where Margaret Healy had connections, the Healy siblings have been contacted by and expanded to hospitals that heard of their efforts through social media and local press coverage, including LMC Media Center.
It is really a gratifying experience. I have connected with so many people I didnt know before. It can be emotional when people say things like, I wish I could hug you right now, Healy says.
Healy includes a card with Code Frontlines social media handles in every delivery. She has been excited to see medical teams post selfies and tag the initiative, from Huntington Hospital to the Brooklyn Hospital Center, and hopes Code Frontlines social presence will amplify their efforts. To date, they have raised nearly $10,000. They have also received donations of packaged snacks, such as granola bars and trail mix.
Recently, we made deliveries to Mt. Sinai Hospital and Elmhurst Hospital in Queens,located in one of the hardest hit neighborhoods. We made sure to bring enough care packages to donate tothe doctors, nurses, EMTs in the ambulance bay, security guards and members of the National Guard, Healy says. On March 25, Elmhurst Hospital reported 13 deaths in a single day.
As Code Frontline expands, Healy says she finds herself thinking about lessons from her coursework in Biomedical Ethics, Math for Informed Citizenship, Political Violence, and her Philosophy Senior Seminar. All of these classes have influenced how I am thinking about my role in this pandemic, and how I can ethically and responsibly help others.
The philosophy seminar, in particular, has made Healy think critically about free will and objectivity. I had the choice to sit and observe this pandemic, or do something about what was going on around me. I hope I have been able to help people who are struggling, and to encourage others to do the same.
On campus, Healy is the co-president of the Womens Collective. She says event planning for the club gave her crucial experience in logistics as she orders supplies, coordinates drop-offs and communicates with donors and hospital partners.
Last summer, Healy studied abroad in India with Associate Professor of Political Science Stacey Philbrick Yadav and Associate Professor of Political Science Vikash Yadav. She is the recipient of the Joseph Romano 82 Endowed Scholarship in Honor of Professor Emerita of Art History Elena Ciletti and the William Elliott Endowed Internship Fund established by HWS Trustee Katherine D. Elliott 66, L.H.D. 08.
To learn more about Code Frontline contact codefrontline@gmail.comand follow their efforts on Instagram @Codefrontline. Donate via Venmo to @mhealy.
In the above photograph, staff at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Centershow off their Code Frontline care packages.