EMS FDNY Help Fund names Verizon Frontline its 2022 partner of the year

The “Food for Frontline Workers” program made it possible to deliver more than 150,000 meals to frontline workers, including FDNY EMS members

June 03, 2022 01:19 PM

The EMS FDNY Help Fund is a nonprofit whose mission is to ensure the security of EMTs, paramedics and their families in the event of a death, injury, illness or hardship.

By Leila Merrill

NEW YORK — The Emergency Medical Services Fire Department of the City of New York Help Fund announced Thursday that Verizon Frontline is its 2022 partner of the year.

Verizon Frontline won the award for its “Food for Frontline Workers” program that launched in New York in the early days of the pandemic and quickly became a national program that made donations to nonprofit organizations. The donations made it possible for the organizations to deliver more than 150,000 meals to frontline workers.

“Our partnership with the EMS FDNY Help Fund on our ‘Food for Frontline Workers’ initiative enabled us to help them deliver more than 25,000 meals from local restaurants to hundreds of first responders and healthcare workers at a critical moment in the pandemic,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business. “Thank you to the EMS FDNY Help Fund for enabling us to show our gratitude for the New York first responders on the front lines of the pandemic response and for everything they do on behalf of emergency medical technicians and paramedics. We are incredibly proud to have Verizon Frontline named as the EMS FDNY Partner of the Year, and we look forward to partnering together in the future to serve those who serve others.”

EMS FDNY Help Fund Treasurer Lt. John McGuire described the program’s impact.

“We’re pleased to honor Verizon Frontline as Partner of the Year,” said Lt. John McGuire, EMS FDNY Help Fund treasurer. “Among our proudest achievements during the pandemic was partnering to provide 25,700 meals to FDNY EMS members, who were working 16-hour shifts from Easter Sunday to Mother’s Day in 2020. This was the largest undertaking in the history of our young Help Fund.”

Verizon Frontline is an advanced network and technology built for first responders.

The EMS FDNY Help Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to ensure the security of EMTs, paramedics and their families in the event of a death, injury, illness or hardship.