After the dust started to clear during the worst of the COVID19 quarantine here in NYC, a new tradition between my friend and I started through volunteering. C.L. is a master at volunteering whereas I would refer to myself as a novice, but I missed getting out there so I decided to be his navigator/buddy while delivering groceries to families who have food insecurities.
C.L. has this beautiful car that brings a smile to anyone who sees him. Yes, the car goes by the name of Herbie and has the bright number 53 painted on the front and sides. You guessed it! Herbie is a VW bug… JUST like the movies. I couldn’t account for all the honks, hollers and genuine merriment that comes when people see this car. It doesn’t surprise me that C.L. would own a car like this because that is also what he brings to the world: genuine merriment.
So our first foray out into the world of Queens wasn’t so bad. We delivered to 15 families and only had to call back to home base once. Not too shabby!
Today was different.
Today we started out strong. We got to the church to pick up our parcels to deliver and even took the extra five again for a total of 15 deliveries. We got on the highway to Corona, a neighborhood in Queens that we had probably both been to at some point, but didn’t know well. Before our first delivery, we were lost trying to get off the highway and did a fun roundabout from one highway to the next which lead us to an exit where some guys were standing on the off-ramp selling mufflers. I actually thought that he was trying to say something was wrong with Herbie’s muffler, but then I understood what he meant.
We found the first address and everything was moving swimmingly. You are supposed to try as hard as possible to keep these deliveries contact free. We call the phone number given to us and ask if they are home. If they are, we leave the food outside the door and usually just assume that the person on the phone will come get it. Well as we were finishing up delivery number 9, another person calls my phone to say that the food wasn’t outside her door. We went back to her address and found the food had been slightly rifled through, but luckily not everything was taken. My compadre hands the bag of food to a woman in the doorway and comes back to the car. I say to him, “You left it by the door? She is coming downstairs now.” And he goes, “Oh no, I handed it to another woman.” Luckily, we were able to get the food to the proper lady!
On one of our phone calls, we found out that the family had moved. The majority of the phone conversations happened in Spanish, so I took down the address he was telling me and then spoke the address back to him on the phone. This is a technique we use as nurses quite frequently so that we be as clear as possible. You hear something and repeat it back to be sure it’s the same thing. I think you know where I am going with this. The address was not correct, which added a little bit of travel time to our morning. Nothing major, but then we needed to stop for bathroom break as well as a hydration break too. After another phone call we finally found him!
Luckily, the rest of our deliveries went pretty smoothly if you don’t count the lady draped in her bath towels who hollered at me “Who are you?!” as I was ringing her doorbell (she did apologize after she opened the door) or the lady who hollered at C.L. to get out of her parking space from a balcony of a high floor at one of the buildings we went to. Is it a day out in NYC if someone hasn’t hollered at you?
Just goes to show that there is always an adventure to be had!
According to Healthy People 2020, food insecurity is defined as “the disruption of food intake or eating patterns because of lack of money or other resources.” Through New York Cares, we were able to give a hand to a group called “9 Million Reasons.” I can’t wait to see what kind of adventure we have next time!
Mar Tells Mini Tales 
Very cool! Thank you both for your compassion and efforts!
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