4
QUEENS WEEKLY, APRIL 5, 2020
New Yorkers step up to help essential
workers with MetroCard donations
BY BENJAMIN MANDILE
New Yorkers are coming
together once again in a
time of need as MetroCard
owners staying home due to
the coronavirus are passing
off their unused cards to essential
workers who must
still travel for work.
Sophie Vershbow, a New
York-based social media
director, started the act of
kindness by connecting
people online.
As of March 27, 124
people had signed on to the
initiative and by March 30
there were 228 confirmed
matches and 35 pending,
said Vershbow.
“The response has been
overwhelmingly positive,”
she said. “People are eager
to help any way they
can from the safety of
their homes.”
The system uses Google
Sheets and has the Metro-
Card user enter their name,
email address and card
value into the spreadsheet.
Then essential workers can
contact the person directly
with their physical address
to claim the card.
The system was designed
for privacy, so the
only exchange of addresses
is between the donor and
the recipient.
“I’m aware that this
isn’t the most high-tech operation
and have no way to
verify that essential workers
are who they say they
are,” said Vershbow. “But
in times like these, you
hope everyone is on the
honor system and using a
resource the way it’s meant
to be used.”
She said that a few people
have raised this issue to
her, but that it doesn’t concern
her in the slightest.
The idea formed when
she received her monthly
unlimited pass in the mail
via WageWorks that would
sit unused due to the fact
that she is currently self-isolating
at home and doesn’t
expect to be back in the office
by the next time she receives
her MetroCard.
She sent out a tweet
saying that she would offer
her card to an essential
worker in need, and the
number of responses she received
was overwhelming.
“I received so many
replies from other New
Yorkers with MetroCards
to donate that I knew I had
to organize something,” she
told QNS.
Vershbow said she grew
up in the city and is never
surprised by the generosity
of her fellow New Yorkers.
It’s been over a week
since she tweeted the offer
and said she was able to get
the word out because of her
“decent-sized” following
on the social media platform,
with 17,000 followers
as of publication. She said
she has mostly gotten the
word out through the social
media platform.
Photo: Flickr Creative Commons
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