Easily lost in the avalanche of uncertainty and anxiety during this coronavirus crisis are the random acts of kindness taking place from one side of the country to the other.
They’re happening all over New York City — as simple and moving as those nightly 7 o’clock pot-clanging exercises out of apartment windows as well-deserved shows of public appreciation for hospital workers.
Two time zones away, a former New York athlete who still considers himself part New Yorker is doing what he can to make a difference.
Jay Feely was a kicker for the Giants from 2005-06 and for the Jets from 2008-09, two of his most memorable stops in a 13-year NFL career. He’s now an NFL color analyst for CBS Sports. Giving back has been in his blood (more on that in a moment) longer than kicking field goals.
Feely, who’s 43 and living in Scottsdale, Ariz., has created a brilliant and beautiful way to give back by purchasing meals from restaurants whose business has been ravaged by the effects of the nationwide shelter-in-home orders and handing them out to hospital workers and first responders in his area.
“I was sitting at home thinking, ‘What can I do? How can I help?’ ’’ Feely told The Post on Wednesday. “It has been a way to get out and say, ‘Thank you.’ ’’
He’s done more than that. His mission not only has brought business to empty, suffering restaurants, but also has lifted the spirits of the people who are working hardest during this crisis. As of Wednesday night, he had raised more than $18,000 and done six restaurant-to-meal-donation missions. He has a seventh scheduled for Thursday.
Feely began by creating a GoFundMe page, asking for donations so he could buy the meals. He also asked for restaurants that were open and hurting for business to contact him. From there, he has taken the generous donations of strangers and used the money to buy meals for those who need and deserve them most.
“Let’s utilize and leverage my platform and try to have an impact,’’ he thought to himself.
Feely has done just that, and born out of it is this win-win for the restaurants and the hospital workers and first responders that’s more perfectly executed than the best snapper-holder-kicker field-goal operation.
For his first mission, Feely targeted a Scottsdale restaurant named Zinque that had just opened in December. He bought 300 meals from it and delivered them to nearby Banner Desert Medical Center. Along with his son, Jace, and daughter, Lexi, he has been doing it since.
“Helping the restaurants was my biggest thing at first,’’ Feely said “These restaurants are down 80, 90 percent business, so I thought, ‘What can I do to help them? Yeah, we can buy some meals from them takeout, but what else can we do?’ ’’
This is how Zinque general manager Jeff Berger described the plight of the restaurant during COVID-19: “We’re struggling to survive.’’
Feely was blown away by the response when he brought those 300 dinners to the hospital the first night.
“It’s humbling when you go to an ER and all you’re doing is bringing them some food and they’re super thankful,’’ he said. “I’ve always believed in community service and the value of developing your kids and trying to create a heart to serve in your kid.’’
That life goal brought Feely to Haiti several times to help rebuild homes after earthquake devastation. It was on one of those trips that he met a young native named Wedner Delmont, who served as a translator for Feely and his family and whose family’s home was destroyed in an earthquake.
Feely was so moved by Delmont that he invited him back to Arizona to live with him so he could go to college. Delmont has since graduated from Grand Canyon University, has a job, is about to get his Masters degree and is supporting his family.
“He had such a profound impact on my kids, as much as we did for him, he probably did as much or more for my family,’’ Feely said. “That’s what we’re called to do — help when we have an opportunity.’’
That help gene Feely was born with is going a long way in a time in our lives when help is in short supply.
Just ask Kristin Dossetti, who along with her husband, Emmanuel, own that Zinque restaurant in Scottsdale. She called Feely’s random act of kindness “a reflection of the best of who we are.’’
“There really is a domino effect by what he’s done,’’ she said. “When people hear of someone like Jay doing that they think, ‘How can I do that?’ It’s kind of like you’re throwing a stone into a pond. The ripple effect is pretty enormous.’’