How You and Your Kids Can Support Those on the Front Lines Fighting COVID-19 from a Safe Distance
Searching for ways to show your support to doctors, nurses and medical professionals as they risk their health every day to fight COVID-19? Thanks to Tari Brodsky, you can now do that from the comfort and safety of your own home!
Brodsky recently launched her Pics for Providers project as a way for parents to teach their children gratitude amid the coronavirus health crisis.
The women’s health nurse practitioner, who works at Katz’s Women’s Hospital at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York, tells PEOPLE she started the thank you card-making project after becoming inspired by another initiative at her hospital.
“We are giving our OB families snack/care packages while they are here,” she explains. “Due to the spread of COVID-19, hospitals have restricted visitation. We wanted our families to be as comfortable as possible given this stressful situation.”
“This was a great start but I also wanted to give back and show appreciation to all the hard-working, dedicated doctors, nurses, NPs, PAs, technicians and receptionists who are on the front lines, risking their lives,” adds Brodsky.
Courtesy Tari Brodsky Thank you cards
And so, Pics for Providers was born.
In a March 22 post on Facebook, the nurse practitioner asked parents to keep their children busy at home by creating cards for health care providers to show their appreciation during this health crisis.
Once a child completes the personalized card, Brosky requested that their parents take a photo of it and send it to her in an email.
“This is such an easy project to do with kids while we are socially distancing,” she says. “It’s an opportunity to talk about gratitude [and] remind them that while they are doing their part by staying home, healthcare workers are doing theirs by taking care of sick people.”
Courtesy Tari Brodsky Thank you cards
Courtesy Tari Brodsky Thank you cards
In just two days, Brodsky says she has already received almost 50 “beautiful homemade cards” and expects to have more fill her inbox.
At some point next week, she plans on putting together a slideshow of all the cards and sharing them with various units in her hospital.
The nurse practitioner notes she has also received requests from other health care providers outside of her hospital, asking to be included with the project, and plans on sending them her slideshow, as well.
“I know I have many, many more on the way since my post is being shared on various groups and social media outlets,” she explains. “I can only imagine that when I share these pictures with the hospital staff, they will be thrilled and touched that so many families took the time and effort to be grateful.”
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Though she’s only two days into her gratitude project, Brodsky hopes it will reach much farther than her New York community.
“I hope that many, many more people from around the country contribute since we are all in this together,” she says. “I’m all about spreading kindness, not COVID!”
Those wishing to contribute to Brodsky’s project can send a photo of their homemade cards to [email protected].
As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been at least 52,215 cases and 675 deaths attributed to coronavirus in the United States, according to the New York Times. New York currently leads the country with at least 25,665 cases and 210 reported deaths.
As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments and visit our coronavirus hub.