By Sandi Gohn
It’s been over two weeks since the USNS Comfort arrived in New York City to bring much-needed medical assistance to the metropolitan area, which is currently the country’s biggest COVID-19 hotspot.
According to the Department of Defense (DoD), the Comfort is staffed with roughly 1,000 military medical professionals – including doctors, nurses and physician assistants – who have stepped in to help care for patients, regardless of their COVID-19 status, from overwhelmed civilian hospitals.
Additionally, approximately 1,000 more military medical personnel are staffing the Javits Center, which has been transformed into a field hospital to care for mostly-recovered COVID-19 patients. Also, just 30 miles north of the city at Camp Smith, thousands of additional members of the National Guard are also working to staff COVID-19 phone banks and conduct additional support tasks.
To help support these brave men and women serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, the USO of Metropolitan New York has been working throughout the greater New York City area to provide slew of classic USO amenities – from toiletry kits to comfort foods to gym equipment – as a tangible way of saying thank you to the military for what they are doing.
Unsurprisingly, dropping off thousands of snacks, beverages and personal care items for our men and women in uniform is quite an undertaking in-and-of-itself, and requires dozens of supply trips to and from locations to get the job done.
To help ensure these deliveries continue with ease, long-time USO supporter Jeep® has stepped in to provide the USO with five vehicles to help our New York team with its support of service members hard at work on the USNS Comfort, at the Javits Center, at Camp Smith or at other locations in the area.
“Thank you, Jeep®, for the five vehicles. You’ve made it incredibly easy for us to delivery support to the thousands of service members deployed throughout our area,” said USO of Metropolitan New York CEO Brian Whiting.
With the help of these vehicles, the USO team can continue to provide that small touch of home to service members when they need it the most. For as long as they are serving the nation and their communities, the USO will continue to find a way to serve them.
Every day, America’s service members selflessly put their lives on the line to keep us safe and free. Please take a moment to let our troops know how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice.