FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 25, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Acts of Kindness Send your Acts of Kindness to editorial@qns.com
Flushing school sends students’ inspirational
letters to seniors in assisted living facilities
BY ANASTASIA
ECONOMIDES
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
For some, stocking up on toilet
paper made them feel secure
during stay-at-home orders
amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
For others, it was buying pasta
and bottled water, or ordering
takeout to help struggling local
eateries.
But for those who are considered
to be of especially high risk
and have been on strict lockdown
since the pandemic started,
a heartfelt letter is all that’s
needed. Meryl Mittleberg, a
vocational coordinator for the
Lowell School — a special education
day school in Flushing
— came up with an altruistic
idea that would benefi t everyone
involved.
Th e assignment was simple:
Write down how you feel
about these trying times, and
what you look forward to when
life resumes and COVID-19 is
no longer a threat. Th e writings
would then be given to isolated
seniors in assisted living facilities.
Older students had an opportunity
to write the letters in
class in March, right before distance
learning was implemented.
Mittleberg, who has been with
the school for 10 years wearing
many hats, serving currently
as the theater director, did not
expect approximately 300 letters
written by students in grades 5
through 12 fi lled with “touching
and tear-jerking words.”
Th e letters ranged in length
from a paragraph to several
pages long.
“They realize something’s
bigger than themselves,” said
Mittleberg, who thought of her
late mother when coming up
with the initiative. “Th ose who
are isolated would probably love
to receive letters from kids. And
the students are lonely, too. By
putting their feelings down into
words, they are helping themselves.”
Th e Lowell School serves students
who have various learning
diff erences from elementary
to high school levels across
the fi ve boroughs and Nassau
County. For them, the pandemic
is the most daunting experience
of their lifetimes.
Yet themes of positivity and
gratitude are refl ected throughout
the writings. Rayden, a
ninth-grade student, wrote
about getting up early just to see
the sun rise.
“It reminds me that each day
is new and there is always something
good about that.” Th omas,
a seventh-grader, expressed
longing for what so many take
for granted. “I am staying with
my grandmother right now
because my mother and father
work in hospitals. Now all we do
is FaceTime each other. I miss
them.”
Angeliki, an 11th-grader,
pointed out that a busy world
has stopped in its tracks.
“Everyone was in their own
bubble doing their own thing,
and now we are truly seeing people
for people.” And there was
astute observation. Mittleberg
recalled a letter written by
Leandro, a seventh-grader that
said, “My family went to Texas
on vacation, but when we got
there, coronavirus came and
all they wanted to do was buy
toilet paper. I hope you have toilet
paper.”
To date, Mittleberg has sent
the compiled letters to 25 facilities
that go beyond the boroughs,
including some in New Jersey,
Connecticut and California.
“Even though we’re in the
process of reopening, people in
nursing homes will always enjoy
them,” she said.
Mittleberg said she will continue
off ering up the writings to
anyone who accepts them, and
has heard positive feedback from
recipients.
“Some of our residents keep
the letters on them when they
are out of their rooms in their
walkers,” said Nazima Pasha,
an activities leader for Flushing
House, a retirement home.
“Th ank you so much to you and
your staff for this … it has lift ed
their spirits in this much-needed
time.”
Courtesy of Meryl Mittleberg
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