Bringing grocery essentials to hospital staffers

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, members of Greenwich’s Milbrook Club community rallied together to find a way to show their appreciation for nurses, doctors, and others on the front line of care.

“We were so moved by healthcare workers, who are selflessly putting themselves in between us and the virus,” explained Craig Friedman, one of the organizers. The group quickly homed in on the challenges surrounding acquiring food and other necessities for their own families—and wanted to alleviate this burden for hospital staff.

“Rather than have critical healthcare workers travel from store to store after a 12-hour shift searching for pasta, chicken, and toilet paper, we wanted to help them return home to care for their families and themselves.” The group successfully sourced, donated, and delivered bags of groceries to hundreds of healthcare workers across Fairfield County.

In April, Greenwich Hospital took this idea a step further, and started its own small “grocery” store in the Nutmeg Cafeteria stocked with food and cleaning supplies. Additional donations from the Milbrook Club community are now funding the grocery’s operation through the month of May and into June—much to the delight of staff who patronize this shopping option before heading home after work.

Beyond the groceries, an important part of the effort, according to Friedman, is for the hospital employees to know how much their community appreciates them. As he says, “We remain grateful and humbled by the sacrifices made by our local healthcare workers, and are very proud to stand with our friends and neighbors to be part of recognizing their extraordinary contributions in some small way.”