EMS Cares: The Ostfeld Family Provides Care Packages to Hackensack Healthcare Workers

Hospital doctors, nurses, technicians, food service workers, and custodial staff are working long hours and even spending days in a row at the hospital without returning home. Some have even traveled from outside our area to help fight COVID-19, and others fear going home briefly in between shifts because they are afraid they will infect their families. To say “thank you,” the Ostfeld family has started a project to provide care packages for healthcare workers at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Scott and Jen Ostfeld, along with their children Trevor, Vivian, and Evelyn, assembled 187 care packages, filled with snacks, personal care items, and handmade cards. The cards were created by the Ostfeld children, their friends at EMS, and other community members to lift the spirits of these heroic workers.

“I think they will feel happy when they receive these care packages,” says sixth-grader Vivian, after adding a colorful card to a care package that also included hand lotion, lip balm, face wipes, gum, mints, granola bars, gummy bears, popcorn, and flavored water.

“They will learn that people care about them and that we appreciate their work at the hospital while we stay home,” adds Trevor, a seventh-grader.

Evelyn, a third-grader, wrote a card that read: “The Hero And No-Kidding Superhero (THANKS). Thank you for working on the front line to help.”

The Ostfelds delivered the care packages to Hackensack University Medical Center on Saturday, April 25.

“We hope that the healthcare workers at Hackensack University Medical Center know how grateful we are, and that every card from our community brings a smile to their face,” says EMS Board of Trustees Vice President Jen Maxfield Ostfeld.

She is continuing this effort with her family and planning to deliver hundreds more care packages in the future as the fight against COVID-19 continues. Hackensack University Medical Center has been at the forefront of treating patients with COVID-19 and will release their 1,000th COVID-19 patient on Tuesday, April 28.