As the COVID-19 pandemic devastates nursing homes Hudson County, local communities have come together in various ways to show support for first responders, nurses, and other workers fighting on the front lines of the virus.
In Bayonne, the Chamber of Commerce organized a second successful drive-by parade of Bayonne Medical Center to honor staff and show local support.
North Bergen has organized a similar drive-by event to honor the staff of Palisades Medical Center. Nearby, Guttenburg holds a daily “clap-out” at 7 p.m. where residents are encouraged to open their windows and clap for frontline employees.
In Secaucus, the town has posted videos from local children, cheering on first responders with short messages of gratitude.
Now, residents of North Bergen seek to continue the trend by establishing a support group for the staff of a local nursing home.
Supporters of the Harborage
Unshaken by the outbreak, locals have rallied together to form a support group for one of the three nursing homes in North Bergen hit hard by COVID-19. North Bergen’s nursing homes sit at the epicenter of the outbreak in the township, recording 66 deaths among residents of nursing homes alone.
The aforementioned nursing home is The Harborage, a 245-bed nursing home providing patients with long-term-care.
The Supporters of the Harborage, (SOTH) was started to provide food donations to staff during the pandemic.
“We are a group of like-minded people hoping to help the staff of The Harborage, the rehab/senior housing at Palisades Medical Center,” according to SOTH. “Help us help The Harborage feed front line workers at this hard-hit North Bergen, NJ nursing home, one of the hardest hit by COVID-19 in Hudson County, with 181 confirmed positives, and 25 deaths.”
However, SOTH is not collecting donations. Instead, SOTH is connecting individual donors to participating restaurants to provide the safest means of donating food the nursing home.
Donors contribute directly to the restaurants who will then deliver the meals to the hardworking Harborage front line workers, according to SOTH.
Any restaurants who would like to participate or sponsor a meal are advised to email Erica Seitzman at Erica.Seitzman@gmail.com or via Facebook messenger.
For updates on this and other stories, check www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Daniel Israel can be reached at disrael@hudsonreporter.com.
