Liam Elkind, a junior at Yale, and his friend Simone Policano started a project called the Invisible Hands to aid those in dire need at this time of emergency.
The Invisible Hands project is a New York-based volunteer project that supplies those who are more vulnerable, such as the elderly, with food and medicine, as well as some much-needed human connection. The system is efficient yet extremely cautious against the further spreading of the disease, which is where their name originated from.
According to the Associated Press, Elkind and Policano were able to gather over 1,300 volunteers over just a couple days, which allowed them to set up a website where orders for groceries and medicine could be placed.
“It’s gone from extremely casual to extremely operational very quickly,” Elkin said.
There are multiple rules and conditions that the volunteers have to abide by to maintain healthy conditions: They can not have traveled out of the country for the past two weeks, been diagnosed with COVID-19 or been in contact with anyone who has. Deliveries and cash are left at the doors of the customers, but digital transactions have become more popular as well.
Furthermore, volunteers must take a pledge that they have already practiced social distancing on their own before becoming a part of this project.
Once these precautions are taken, the goal is to help and connect with those in a dire situation.
“People are scared, and people are lonely,” Elkind said. “We’re all so separated, and one of the things we need is that social cohesiveness. This is one opportunity to get them that social connection they’re looking for.”
One of the customers that they have connected with is Carol Sterling, an 83-year-old widow that has been sheltering at home on her own. Unable to shop for any food, she found out about this project through her synagogue and was promptly hand-delivered fruit and salad in a large brown bag.
It’s neighbor to neighbor. A crisis like this often brings out the very best.
— Carol Sterling
Sterling was beyond grateful, not only for the delivery but for the new friend she had found in Elkind.
“When we look back, a lot of good things are going to come out of this,” Elkind said, referring to the current state of crisis. “This will bring everybody together.”
With the rapid growth of this operation, volunteers have offered to branch out Invisible Hands to more locations, such as London, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, and Washington.
