Lynbrook Cares making a difference in community

Betty Bergbuchler, 91, said the coronavirus pandemic has caused her to worry and has made routine tasks like grocery shopping hard for her. However, thanks to the Lynbrook Cares group, she no longer has to leave the Nathan Hale Senior Village where she lives to buy food.

“They’re angels from heaven, and they saved my life,” Bergbuchler said. “I never knew there were such lovely people. They just do it out of the kindness of their hearts and to help people.”

Lynbrook Cares was co-founded by village residents Laura Ryder and Steve Schmitt, who are its chairs. Schmitt approached Mayor Alan Beach about eight months ago with an idea to create a volunteer committee to help shovel snow for seniors and veterans. Ryder then gave him the idea to expand it by offering leaf raking, housework, companionship, grocery shopping and the option to pick up prescriptions for seniors or others in need of assistance.

The group is helpful for seniors like Bergbuchler, who moved to Lynbrook in 1941 and has lived at Nathan Hale for about 12 years. She said she has had trouble sleeping because the coronavirus has caused her to panic, but at least some of her worries have been lifted thanks to Lynbrook Cares. Schmitt explained that people in need like Bergbuchler can place orders over the phone, and a volunteer will do their shopping for them.

“It’s important to help your community,” Schmitt said. “I see it a lot throughout the country. The idea is to help people who are older or disabled.”

Last November, the group held its first meeting, which about 45 residents attended. Volunteers are asked to fill out two forms when they join, a sign-up and information sheet, and another in which they must agree to be vetted by the Lynbrook Police Department, which performs a background check. The group also accepts volunteer applications from Lynbrook High School and offers them community service hours.

When the coronavirus outbreak began, the group’s regular meetings were put on hold, but the committee has increased its range of helping others. Members also check in with seniors by phone to make sure they are OK and began a food collection drive with Sister Barbra Faber of Our Lady of Peace Church to replenish its food pantry.

“At least every day, I get a call from people offering to help and offering to join and do whatever they can,” Ryder said. “It honestly has been overwhelming in a positive way. It's so wonderful. Everybody wants to help. Everybody wants to do something.”

The group also started collecting reusable bags, and Ryder said Schmitt purchased 300 of them from Key Food, while another resident, Cindy Schreiner, purchased 200 online and donated them to the cause. In all, Lynbrook Cares has about 30 volunteers who offer different services, many of whom have gone shopping for seniors several times since the pandemic hit Nassau County.

Jim Hunter has volunteered for Lynbrook Cares since it began, and he regularly shops or picks up medication for those who are unable to do it themselves. Since early March, he has made 15 to 20 shopping runs, he said.

“Lynbrook's always been a very caring community,” Hunter said. “There are always people helping out each other, and now I think it's even more vital, as there are more and more people in need. People lose their jobs, people get sick, and the elderly are left isolated from their families, who in the past they rely on first, so we've made it known if people are in need, please ask.”

Hunter said he is proud of what Lynbrook Cares has accomplished and noted that there has been an uptick in requests since the coronavirus began. To ensure safety, volunteers wear gloves and masks when they run errands and drop the items at people’s stoops or outside their homes.

While most people pay for the items that they need and are given receipts, the group has also partnered with the Lynbrook Community Chest, which provides financial help to Lynbrook residents who have fallen on hard times, to deliver groceries to six families in the village who can not afford them.

Ryder said that one family had three adults get laid off because of the virus, so the Community Chest paid for their rent for April and dropped groceries to them, and she gave them Tylenol because one of the residents was sick. Additionally, the Community Chest donated $1,000 to OLP to purchase grocery store gift cards for those in need.

Ryder said many volunteers have come forward amid the coronavirus pandemic, but noted the committee is looking for more.

“In the last two weeks, so many people have reached out to me that are not involved in our committee,” she said, “offering to help and offering to do anything that we need because they themselves are happy and grateful that they're healthy. They want to help other people. It's been amazing.”