Like many towns in the northeast part of New Jersey, Irvington has seen its share of Covid-19 cases both confirmed and not, going in and out of the city’s medical facilities. The Irvington EA Pride Committee and Executive Officers felt compelled to organize a series of meal deliveries for all of Irvington’s first responders and medical and essential personnel. The members of the committee contacted several well-loved and well-attended local establishments to provide the meals, keeping everything local to Irvington. The first meal delivery was on April 8 and was catered by Don’s Diner. The second meal delivery was catered by Burnett BBQ and was held on April 16, with another meal delivery scheduled soon. “Right now, is when we need to support our community,” said Lauren Greenfield, Pride Committee chair for Irvington Education. “We wanted to thank the first responders for working tirelessly to ensure we have a healthy and safe community to return to when schools do reopen.”
The Irvington Pride Committee and Executive Committee worked with the mayor’s office, ensuring these meal deliveries happened at shift changes so the most amount of first responders could eat. “It is without a doubt, the hardest thing that has happened to our community, and the way we have all stepped up to help each other in such adversity is humbling,” said Michael Byock, President of Irvington Education Association. “The minute our superintendent said we’re going remote, my membership was ready, and I couldn’t be more blown away, because not only did every single member of the Irvington Education Association go above and beyond to make sure every student was taken care of with a “remote classroom” to learn in, access to Google classroom, lesson packets, and hot breakfast and lunch if they needed it, but the IEA members went out into the community and said, ‘we have got to make sure our first responders know how much we appreciate them.’”
