Rail terminal workers bring masks to Long Island Community Hospital
Members of a Brookhaven-based rail company made a special Mother's Days delivery Sunday to some of Suffolk County's health care heroes.
Employees from the Brookhaven Rail Terminal, which provides rail freight shipping and warehousing services, delivered 2,000 N-95 masks to nurses from Long Island Community Hospital in Patchogue.
Hospital staff have been on the front lines for the past two months in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The masks, delivered by rail terminal staffers to hospital nurses and senior executives — all while socially distancing — came in boxes proclaiming “Happy, Healthy Mother’s Day to our favorite heroines!”
Brookhaven Rail Terminal president Andrew Kaufman said this Mother's Day would be among the most painful in recent memory, as the virus has claimed more than 21,000 lives across the state and nearly 80,000 nationwide.
"Our donation reflects another painful truth," Kaufman said. "While we thought it appropriate to bring some 2,000 masks to the hospital on Mother’s Day, this kind of assistance will be needed for months to come. We all need to find the means of sustaining this type of support every day for those who are on the front lines of this pandemic.”
Jakes Watral, owner of Brookhaven Rail Terminal, said the delivery is a "nice tribute to those who deserve it."
Brookhaven Rail Terminal will also match other private contributions to the hospital up to $5,000 to help the facility meet expenses incurred in responding to the pandemic.
“This is a very special Sunday,” said Long Island Community Hospital president and chief executive Richard Margulis. “Not only is it Mother’s Day but we are also celebrating Nurses Week. Our nurses have been true heroes during this time and we are thrilled to celebrate with extra community support today. Thank you very much Fred Braun for your tireless support and to the Brookhaven Rail Terminal for this incredible donation.”
Widespread use of masks can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the next two months, lowering the state's projected death toll by a range of 17% to 45%, new research shows.
A recent study of data from New York by researchers from Arizona State University suggests that immediate “broad adoption” by 80% of state residents in using "moderately" effective face masks could have a significant impact on the spread of disease, along with other social distancing methods. Even “very weak masks,” researchers found, are 20% effective in blocking the virus.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
