Deb and Brian Shea’s staff was hard at work on Thursday in the Barley House’s kitchen in downtown Concord. Wearing homemade masks and scarves to protect their faces, some bagged food and others organized ingredients.
The busy kitchen was in contrast to the empty streets, which have been quiet in the weeks the state has been on lockdown.
On top of running their own takeout food business a few days a week, the Barley House has provided bags of homemade food for Concord Hospital’s emergency department on Saturday nights during the COVID-19 crisis.
“We have great respect for everyone working at Concord Hospital, and our gift of food reminds them that we are here for them,” Barley House owner Brian Shea said. “Making someone’s day better makes our day better – it’s as simple as that.”
Concord Hospital officials say they’ve seen a surge of donations to health care workers in recent weeks as they navigate the pandemic.
Many of the gifts have been taken off their wish list, which can be found online and includes items like N-95 masks, hand sanitizer, non-latex gloves and new digital thermometers.
Some are comfort items, like food. On Easter Sunday, the hospital saw numerous donations from local restaurants, like Roots Cafe in Hooksett.
There have been plates of baked goods and cases of Girl Scout cookies. At one point, someone donated dozens of long-stem roses to be handed out to staff as they left for the day. Local businesses have donated gift cards to be raffled off to staff once a week.
“We have people donating things just to brighten our day,” said Pamela Puleo, Concord Hospital’s chief advancement officer.
The hospital has been seeing massive donations of masks made by people in the Concord area.
Dr. Michael McLeod, the associate medical officer for primary care, said the hospital received 3,000 hand-sewn masks donated by members of the community.
He said he spent six hours with his wife, Dr. Angela Yerdon McLeod, his 12-year-old daughter Hannah and 15-year-old daughter Madelyn sorting through each mask by size. McLeod said they had a fun time looking at all the unique designs of the masks and the creativity and care that was put into each one.
Those masks are being used by staff members who are not in direct contact with patients. McLeod said it brought the hospital’s use of surgical masks over the weekend down by 700 compared to last weekend.
He said it was moving to see the staff’s reaction when he delivered the handmade masks to each of Concord Hospital’s offices.
“When I brought them around to all the practices, everybody asked, ‘Where did these come from? Were these all donated?’ My answer was, ‘Your community did this for you. These came from so many different sources where folks wanted to do what they could to help.’ ”
McLeod and his wife are both physicians in the Concord Hospital system, and he said the last few weeks have been physically and emotionally difficult. The outreach from the community has been a bright spot, he said.
“In medicine, you develop a little bit of a shield to things that are hard, and, honestly, it’s the random acts of kindness that find the chinks in the armor,” he said.
The crisis has inspired institutions in Concord to examine their resources to find unique ways to help.
Charlie Fanaras, owner of the Prescription Center in Concord, donated hand sanitizer to Concord Hospital that he made at the shop.
“A lot of people are going through really difficult times of their own, but they’re still doing what they can to help,” he said. “We really need to support the hospital and the VNAs.”
Greg Meeh, owner of Cold Garden Spirits in Canterbury, a company that distills craft spirits using locally sourced fruits and grains, also transitioned his business to making hand sanitizer, which he donated to the hospital.
Foxy Nails in Concord donated 16 cases of small, non-latex gloves from its supplies.
St. Paul’s School has a community of students and alumnae all over the world that has donated supplies to Concord, officials said.
The school was also able to donate supplies from its stockpiles that haven’t been needed since students left for the year. They donated 200 N95 respirators and a number of other resources.
“We were in a position here where we had supplies, with students not coming back, where I really wanted to give them to my colleagues who are really doing a lot of the hard work dealing with this,” St. Paul’s School Medical Director Dr. John Bass said. “I didn’t want to see them wearing only homemade, cloth masks. Those aren’t going to provide them with all of the support and protection they need.”
Others in the community are using connections they have overseas to fill the need.
Kae Mason, owner of K Salon in Concord, ordered a shipment of 1,000 medical-grade masks from China from a company that she has worked with in the past to order specialty salon equipment.
“I just don’t think it’s fair for them to be risking their lives without us looking out to help,” she said.
Masks from Mason’s shipment will not only go to Concord Hospital but Catholic Medical Center and Elliot Hospital. The order, including shipping, cost around $2,000. Mason said she received a lot of donations from people in the community who wanted to help.
“It’s not going to be enough to change the world, I realize that, and it’s enough that they can throw masks away that they’ve been using for maybe a couple of days, and start with a fresh one,” Mason said.
John Cimikoski, owner of Cimo’s South End Deli, purchased 10,000 masks, which were split among organizations like Concord Hospital, the Concord Regional Visiting Nurses Association, and the Concord and Bow police departments.
“They came all the way from China, two big boxes, delivered right to my store,” he said last week.
He said he thought of the idea when he heard that a friend, Barbara Berwick, has connections in China through work and was able to purchase masks from a factory. Cimikoski was able to raise $1,500 through friends, which Berwick matched.
“It was all a risk, and we knew that masks could get stopped at customs and not make it into the country,” he said. “But they didn’t, and it all ended up being worth it.”
Cimikoski said it’s been touching to see the Concord community stepping up to help support health care workers and other people working in the city on the front lines every day.
“When somebody needs help, Concord is a great community to live in,” Cimos said. “I think it’s just outstanding to see what people are doing, and it’s not just people making big donations. It’s the people at home making masks and taking the time to contribute, even in small ways.”