Home COVID-19 10 Happy News Stories To Spark Joy This Week

10 Happy News Stories To Spark Joy This Week

by Corinne Batsides
Attain Medspa
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As another week of learning to adapt to challenges passes by, it’s time to reflect on all the ways that the wonderful people of Hudson County chose to stay positive — and there are plenty. It’s in these chaotic times that character is fostered, and it’s safe to say Hudson County is going to come out of this pandemic unbreakable.

As the members of our community lean on one another more and more, we also find ourselves stronger and more resilient than ever, which goes to show the greatness a united community can foster. Today, we’re sharing just some of the ways that Hoboken, Jersey City, and all our neighboring towns have embodied generosity, kindness, and positivity this week, all while generating a contagious sense of hope.

Local Happy News

Vepo Clean

   {Photo credit: @upworthy}

JK Therapy

Girl Scouts Hold a Mask Drive for the Homeless

Girl Scout Troop 12022

Hobbs Inc

The members of Hoboken Girl Scout Troop #12022 are holding a mask drive for the Hoboken homeless population. The drive is located at the Hoboken CERT Headquarters at the Newark Street entrance of City Hall. If you or someone you know has any masks to donate, please label all donations as “Girl Scouts” and bring them over to City Hall. The Girl Scouts even made a super simple guide to creating homemade masks to donate — and keep a few at home.

See More: Busy Bee Organics Owner Michelle Berckes Shares Her Quarantine Tips

All Saints Episcopal Day School Collects Food For the Homeless

episcopal day school drive

yoga renew hoboken

{Photo credit: @aseschool}

All Saints Episcopal Day School, located at 707 Washington Street, has been collecting food items every Monday morning to donate to the local homeless population. Each week’s collection has specific food requests and this week, the school asked for peanut butter jelly sandwiches and tuna. The collection takes place in front of the school on Mondays from 8:00AM-9:00AM. All Saints Episcopal Day School volunteers then bring the donations to St. Matthews for the homeless. They also encourage donors to bring masks to be donated as well. 

Hudson Gives Plans a 24-Hour Fundraiser

Hudson Gives

{Photo credit: HudsonGives.org}

Last year, Hudson Gives made history with a 24-hour fundraising competition — engaging the community and supporting an array of different nonprofits. Hudson Gives is coming back for another year, but with a virtual focus. The 24-hour fundraising event will take place on May 14th and members and non-members are welcome to register up until April 24th. You can either register your nonprofit organization on their website or you can simply donate to an existing organization listed here.

Children Write Letters to Staff at Bayonne Medical Center

carepoints health letters

{Photo credit: @carepointhealth}

This week, Isabella and Alexander Olvesen from All Saints Catholic Academy wrote beautiful and thoughtful letters to the staff at the Bayonne Medical Center. The letters thanked the doctors for their life-saving efforts and encouraged them to stay as safe as possible in their brave battle against COVID-19. It’s the little thank you’s like this that help to keep our local healthcare workers fighting for us. 

NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Sends Off Discharged Patients With A Cheer

NewYork Presbyterian Queens

{Photo credit: @nyphospital}

Every COVID-19 patient that has been discharged from NewYork-Presbyterian Queens hospital in the past week exits to the song “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey. The staff of the hospital chooses to play this song with every new discharge because it’s so fitting — every patient discharged and on their way to recovery is a new wave of hope for the staff.

Hoboken Resident Buys Wipes For A Local Doctor In Need

Dr Neev Schweibinz

This story is quite the heartwarming one. For healthcare workers, staying healthy and virus-free is unimaginably hard, but it’s a risk they continue to take. Local Hoboken resident, Dr. Neev Schweibinz shared with us about a tiring — but inspiring — day in the life on the front lines with a team of three other doctors.

“We are covering the entire hospital at night {about 90% COVID positive patients or pending COVID results}. We are in a family medicine residency program, however, our roles have shifted given that we are in a national state of emergency. Most of us are afraid and we don’t feel that we have a choice because we are physicians, took an oath, and need to keep our jobs.”

Like all doctors working through this challenging time, she has a very careful daily cleaning ritual. “I decontaminate, change, decontaminate, and then I get into my car strategically decontaminate my shoes, place them in a garbage bag. I keep them in the car to avoid bringing any of that nasty virus into my 1000-square-foot apartment where my 10 month old runs wild,” she shared.

After a long 14-hour shift, she decided to stop at CVS before going home.  “I was out of bleach, disinfecting wipes, and pretty much all cleaning products, and I just could not find these items anywhere to save my life”.

To her surprise, the cleaning products aisle was finally restocked. “I couldn’t believe my eyes: disinfecting wipes — and a whole bunch of them! I grabbed four rolls. My cleaning and disinfecting routine is extreme due to my constant exposure to coronavirus while working my hospital shifts,” she explains.

Before she could buy all four, a CVS employee told her that the limit was two rolls per person. She admits, “I really needed them, but I said ‘no worries’ and placed two of the wipes back on the shelf. This is when a kind woman came up to me and asked if I was buying the wipes for my medical office. ‘Nope,’ I told her — ‘just for my house — because I work at the hospital and I needed to do everything I could to avoid compromising my baby girl and husband’s health during this pandemic.’”

That’s when the woman stepped in and bought two rolls of wipes and gave them to the doctor for free. Now, Neev has a message for this kind stranger:

 “Whoever you are — you made my day and you have no idea how much I needed them and how grateful I feel that you showed me so much kindness when I truly needed it.”

Residents Donate Lunch to Staff at Bayonne Medical Center

Bayonne-Hospital-Lunch

{Photo credit: @carepointhealth}

The Flobczynski Family and Denise Fazio both donated lunch to the CarePoint Health Bayonne Medical Center ICU/CCU on two different days this week. Denise Fazio also ordered the entire meal from Jersey City’s Gringo’s, not only helping out the hospital staff but also a small business that’s doing its best to stay afloat right now. These donations are a huge help to the hospital staff that is working such exhausting hours.

Hoboken Police Officer Starts “Story Time” with Hoboken Community

story book

The Hoboken Police Department has decided to spend some virtual time with the community, by starting a “storytime,” where officers will post videos of themselves reading short stories to the community. In the first episode which is shared on their new YouTube channel, P.O. Jonathan Lyons read “Arrow To The Sun” By Gerald McDermott. Such a sweet way for our officers to keep people occupied for a few minutes.

Doctors At Christ Hospital Give Back To The Nurses

christ hospital doctors

{Photo credit: @carepointhealth}

Christ Hospital’s neurological team {consisting of Dr. Dani Korya, Dr. Rao, and Leila ANP} donated delicious Bang Cookies, made in Jersey City, to power up the rest of the COVID Warriors at the hospital. These cookies were given to the nurses and staff with a note thanking them for their invaluable hard work and efforts. Safe to say these cookies were well-deserved, but we’re super jealous because Bang Cookies are the most delicious cookies ever.

Hoboken Girl Team Gives Back — and Raises Over $7000 for FLAG 

Hoboken Girl

{Photo credit: @TheHobokenGirl}

Over here at Hoboken Girl, we’re keeping up our nightly cheering for essential workers, and playing music to boost the morale of healthcare workers for the third week in a row. Many locals have been reaching out to share how much the cheers have meant to them, especially those on the front lines, which is really keeping the community going. We’d like to offer a big thanks to DJ Cam for DJing the sets on Saturday nights, when we raise money for FLAG. In addition to boosting morale, the community at large has raised $7,000 and counting for FLAG {Front Line Appreciation Group} in Hoboken and Jersey City in the past two weeks. We’d like to thank everyone who has continued to join us in nightly cheering and those donating to the cause — we couldn’t do any of this without you. We’ll be doing our third DJ set this Saturday at 7:00PM, so make sure to tune in.

Read More: Hudson County: Join Us at 7:00PM Nightly to Thank Our Health Heroes

Thank you, Hudson County for another amazing week. A week of bravery, selflessness, and strength that is surely a model to follow after as our nation moves past this pandemic. Here’s to having a restorative and much-needed weekend.

Have a Happy News Story You Want To Share With Us? Tell Us On Instagram @TheHobokenGirl!

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