The United Way of New York City is helping those in need during the coronavirus pandemic. 

GET INFORMATION: Coronavirus details from the CDC
Coronavirus Prevention: What you can do to protect yourself

President and CEO Sheena Wright says this pandemic may be different but that they are using lessons from the past to push them forward with their COVID-19 community fund. 

"September 11 is a day, a horrible, horrible day in history that had ripple effects for years, even 20 years later...But this is like every single day it gets worse and worse and worse so it's difficult to really figure out how, how do you adjust,” says Wright. 

Wright says it’s hard not knowing how long the pandemic will last but that they are trying to help New Yorkers in dire need at this time. 

"The low-income New Yorkers are some of the ones that are hardest hit by this pandemic...One of the biggest issues is around food insecurity,” says Wright. 

She says they are working with many food pantries and soup kitchens that are struggling to stay afloat. 

 

"Now you have many more people out of work, young people out of school, so families are going to those pantries, so part of our work is really investing in those pantries and setting up additional resources so they can get more food on the shelves,” says Wright. 

She says they are also focusing on making sure kids have the resources to virtually learn, especially those from low-income families and neighborhoods. 

 

Wright says they will be mailing books to students and distributing them throughout schools.