30 Mar COVID-19: Montclair residents supporting essential workers

A reprint from Montclair Local

Montclair is showing its appreciation for the health workers, market workers, postal workers and others working hard to keep the country going during the coronavirus pandemic.

Tonight, Monday, March 30, a “clap-out,” part of the #ClapBecauseWeCare movement, has been organized by Montclair resident Darryl Lammin. The 7 p.m. clap-outs have taken place around the world, in Italy, the U.K., and in American cities including New York and Boston.
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March 30, Lammin writes on the Facebook page for the clap-out, is National Doctors’ day. She encourages people to cheer from their front doors, balconies, yards and living rooms, “to show all who are working on the front line our appreciation for their ongoing hard work/dedication and fight against this virus.

“Let’s hear it for all the medical staff, grocery store workers, carers, delivery drivers, garbage pickup workers, mail delivery and anyone else who’s putting their lives on the line during this pandemic.”

A group that “met” on the app Nextdoor Park Street joined #ClapBecauseWeCare this past Friday, March 27, writes Andreina Botto Roever. She and this group will clap every night at 7 p.m. for two minutes to cheer for those on the front lines.

Another way people can show their appreciation for front line workers is by feeding them.

Chefs Abraham Dickerson and James Desisto of Laboratorio Kitchen are offering meals to first responders on Mondays for free, and 50 free meals to the public on Thursdays beginning at 2 p.m.

JoLaMarca set up a GoFundMe to help feed staff and workers at Mountainside Hospital; it reached its goal and is no longer taking donations.

Montclair Kimberley Academy has donated 174 pairs of goggles, 700 N95 masks, and 90 boxes of gloves to the ICU at Mountainside Hospital, according to a Facebook post.

And Women for Progress, a nonprofit group founded in 2016, is raising money to buy food from local restaurants to deliver to hospitals. As of 9 p.m. on Friday, after just four days, they had raised more than $14,000, said founder and executive director Erin Chung.