A number of Ranney School students have spearheaded efforts to support frontline workers and other essential organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lovleen Virdi ’22 raised funds to provide meals for those on the front lines while also supporting local restaurants. A team of sophomores (Jacqueline Belkin, Stevie Celler, Christopher Costanzo, Paris Huizenga, and Christina Uzzi) are also raising money to buy food from local restaurants to donate to frontline workers, as well as producing a video to celebrate healthcare professionals.
Student service club R.H.O.P.E., led by Sandy Wilderotter ’21, started a corona lemon-lime challenge to raise money for No Kid Hungry. Another student-led service club, b.beyouti- ful, which is led by juniors Brielle Natenzon, Alyssa Lopez and Reese Rotblat, collected food, clothing and diapers through an Instagram Bingo Board campaign and donated all of the supplies to Boyd House Women’s Shelter and the Ozanam Shelter, both located in Perth Amboy. The Zugel and Uzzi families have inspired other Ranney families to join them in an ongoing initiative to donate tuition credits issued by Ranney to Lunch Break and Ranney’s need-based financial aid program.
Ranney’s Medical Advisory Board appealed to the community to donate personal protective equipment (PPE) to support medical professionals on the front lines treating COVID-19, resulting in a collection of over 1,400 N95 masks and thousands of surgical masks and gloves.
Ranney distributed the masks and gloves to medical professionals who expressed a desperate need for these supplies. Recipients included emergency room doctors, the Visiting Nurse Association and a COVID-19 testing facility.
The school still has several hundred disposable surgical masks and a limited supply of gloves available. Please contact Ranney School development director Kathleen Brown at kbrown@ranneyschool.org if you are in need. The school is continuing to collect PPE supplies such as masks, gowns and face shields. If you have supplies to donate, please contact safety@ranneyschool.org or bring the supplies to the front gate during school business hours.
The article originally appeared in the May 14 – 20, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
