Coronavirus Response: RV Owners Donating Vehicles To Health Care Workers Battling Pandemic To Help Protect Their Families
By Stephanie Stahl April 6, 2020 at 5:47 pm
Filed Under:coronavirus, Local, Local TV, Rvs 4 MDs
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Health care workers are getting help from a new Facebook group that's attracted thousands of members quickly. This is about the kindness of strangers and people helping each other in a crisis.
Many health care workers are staying away from their families, not wanting to possibly expose them. Many are temporarily moving into RVs, trailers and campers that are being donated.
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The Facebook group is called RVs 4 MDs.
(credit: CBS3)
"Its truly been game-changing for my family," Christina Conlan said.
Conlan is a child life specialist at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, where everyone wears a mask all the time. It's one of many precautions taken to guard against COVID-19.
"I'm just trying to keep my family safe and I'm doing OK and here at St. Chris, we're doing good," Conlan said.
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Her mom, Julie, just had a liver and kidney transplant and is about to be released from the hospital. But she can't live with her daughter because she could be exposed to the virus while working or out in the community.
"I put a post out on Facebook asking family and friends if they knew anyone with a room I could rent or something," Conlan said.
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She quickly found RVs 4 MDs, people with recreational vehicles donating them to health care workers who need to be separated from their families.
"It's really just amazing thing this group started and it's really changing the lives of front-line health care workers and making sure we are keeping our family safe," Conlan said.
The McClements donated Conlan their RV, that's now parked in front of her house.
"It truly makes it so I can be as close as I can be to my mom without seeing her face-to-face," Conlan said.
But they can see each other from windows and be close, but safe, thanks to the generosity of strangers lending their RVs.
"This really just shows you that we as people in this country, in the darkest of times, can come together and can really help each other out," Conlan said.
She says she wanted to hug the McClements when they dropped off the RV but didn't.
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RVs for MDs, which started just a couple of weeks ago, has thousands of members now and is growing. For more information on RVs for MDs, click here.
Stephanie Stahl
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