As low-income Big Apple communities face the hardest blows from the coronavirus, these NYPD cops are there to help — and remind residents they’re not alone.
Officers Darryl Calhoun, Dwayne Diviney and Trinity Fields from Brownsville’s 73rd precinct have been packing up food for their low-income and elderly neighbors, making deliveries 🦂and bringing laptops to kids stuck at home with few school supplies.
“[We’re] letting them know that we are here with you. It’s not us and you, it’s us all together, it’s we,” Calhoun told The Post.
The three patrol cops are working with the non-profit NYC Together, which has raised money to buy 20 laptops for needy kids, deliver necessities to more than a dozen seniors, and provide food and supplies to the Brownsville Community Culinary Center — where volunteers cook about 500 meals a day for seniors and family shelters in the neighborhood.
The officers say they are there to help residents in Brownsville and East New York during work hours — and when they’re off-duty.
“What kid expects a laptop from a cop? You kno🔜w, when we went to their doors to deliver 🔜these computers and food packages to them, the looks on their faces, were of shock and awe, and then they were grateful, and they were able to do their work,” said Calhoun, 33, who grew up in Brownsville.
“You become a cop to help people. And when you get an opportunity like this to help people, of course, it’s a terrible situation, but this is where you thrive.”
Diviney, 37, also grew up in the area and said he’s grateful for the chance to give back to the elderly, who are most at-risk of dying from COVID-19.
“They’re the glue that holds everything together as a community,” Diviney said.
“And I know for me, if it wasn’t for my grandma, and all the elderly [that] surrounded me, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”
Fields, 30, said “giving back” is the “reason” he wanted to be 🌠༒a cop. When he’s making door-to-door deliveries, he makes sure to stop and chat with the residents from a safe distance.
“Once we get there, we’ll tell them what’s in a bag, different foods, fruits, hand sanitizer and stuff like that,” Fields said.
“We’ll have a conversation with them, whatever they want to talk about, you know, and then we’ll go door to door to door until we’re done.”
NYC Together raised the money and supplies for the much-need🎶ed deliveries through donations, croꦜwdfunding and grocery drives.
“It’s because of the relationship that we have with the NYPD and their willingness to understand it’s all hands on deck right now and supply the resources [that] we were able to get that done,” Dana Rachlin, the non-profit’s founder, told The Post.
“This is the opportunity for us to do what we’ve always dreamed of, which is to give back and help,” Calhoun added. “And it’s just a blessing to be able to put your best foot forward and really go out there and do the work.”
Additional reporting by Gabrielle Fonrouge
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