COVID ANGELS OUTREACH TO 5,000+ CITIZENS:
Greenburgh Receives Grant to Further This Work and Address Vaccine Hesitancy
GREENBURGH, NY_ After just over two months in action, the Covid Angels initiative of Greenburgh announced this week that their 260+ volunteers had surpassed an important milestone of making 5,000 calls and booking over 1,000 vaccine appointments for our town’s most vulnerable citizens. The volunteers also helped make our first vaccine clinic at the Theodore D. Young Community Center a success, distributing 750 doses to our seniors, who return for their second dose on March 28.
With the first phase of guiding citizens in getting appointments slowing down some as vaccines become more available and eligibility opens further, we are beginning to plan a grassroots marketing initiative to conquer any vaccine hesitancy that might occur with citizens fearful or less informed on the benefits of getting vaccinated. The Town is thrilled to announce grant funding of $6,000 has just been awarded from the UJA-Federation of NY’s Vaccine Education & Accessibility program to further these efforts, which we hope to supplement with further grant funding from other sources.
Our innovative idea to overcome vaccine hesitancy in Greenburgh and beyond involves creating a targeted marketing program with two other important key goals to: drive consumers to struggling small businesses and support local families by giving their teenage children opportunities for substantial paid work. We aim to encourage small businesses to offer discounts/incentives to customers who show they’ve been “vaxed.” The businesses will then be promoted in informational flyers on how and why to get the vaccine (and how the Angels can help) which we intend to distribute widely from printed flyers in shop windows to social media. Our teens will be supported by volunteers with professional marketing expertise who are already at work creating a character based on “Marc the Pharmacist,” our real neighborhood pharmacist of Marinelli’s Village Pharmacy of Elmsford.
We are certain that our teens, pulled from those who have taken the Crossroads work-readiness summer program last year, will receive valuable work experience, help businesses, and truly have a hand in saving lives. We welcome more volunteers to support this effort in various capacities based on your skills and interests and encourage you to reach out to kmadsen@greenburghny.com and copy pfeiner@greenburghny.com to sign up.
PAUL FEINER
Greenburgh Town Supervisor