Kids are making cards to thank doctors, nurses, and others on the front lines fighting COVID-19

The unprecedented scale of the coronavirus pandemic has forced at least some of us to take a long hard look at our privilege and recognize the sacrifices of healthcare workers. As we look for ways to express our gratitude to the doctors, nurses, paramedics, EMTs, etc for putting their lives on the line to treat those infected, one of them has come forward with a suggestion as to how we can do that from the safety our homes. Tari Brodsky, a women’s health nurse practitioner, recently launched the Pics for Providers project as a means for parents to teach their children a thing or two about gratitude in these dark times.

Brodsky—who works at Katz’s Women’s Hospital at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York—took to Facebook on Monday with a call for parents to send her thank-you cards made by their children. Hey guys! Hope everyone is geared up for the upcoming week of quarantine/homeschool. We can do this! I work in a hospital and I just want to say thank you to all us that are staying home and slowing the spread! We are swamped, the ED and ICUs are overflowing, medical floors are now COVID units. It would be a great lesson of gratitude for the kids to make cards for the doctors/nurses/providers/technicians/therapists/receptionists who are on the front lines, working incredibly hard with very limited supplies. I would be more than happy to collect pictures, she wrote.

Speaking to PEOPLE, Brodsky revealed that the inspiration for Pics for Providers came from another initiative at her hospital. "We are giving our OB families snack/care packages while they are here. Due to the spread of COVID-19, hospitals have restricted visitation. We wanted our families to be as comfortable as possible given this stressful situation. This was a great start but I also wanted to give back and show appreciation to all the hard-working, dedicated doctors, nurses, NPs, PAs, technicians, and receptionists who are on the front lines, risking their lives," she said.

"This is such an easy project to do with kids while we are socially distancing. It’s an opportunity to talk about gratitude [and] remind them that while they are doing their part by staying home, healthcare workers are doing theirs by taking care of sick people," Brodsky added. Since urging parents to send pictures of their child's creations to the email address pics4providers@gmail.com, she has received almost 50 "beautiful homemade cards" within just 2 days. Brodsky expects to have a lot more fill her inbox soon and revealed that she'll put together a slideshow of all the cards sometime next week and share them with various units in her hospital.

The nurse practitioner added that she has also received requests from other health care providers outside of her hospital to be included in the initiative. "I know I have many, many more on the way since my post is being shared on various groups and social media outlets," she explained. "I can only imagine that when I share these pictures with the hospital staff, they will be thrilled and touched that so many families took the time and effort to be grateful. I hope that many, many more people from around the country contribute since we are all in this together. I’m all about spreading kindness, not COVID!"

Some parents have also been sharing pictures of their kids' homemade thank you cards online to call attention to the Pics for Providers project. One such parent, Leslie Gang wrote: Shugenas made their thank you pics for all of the brave men and women currently working their tushies off to save lives. Everyone’s constantly posting and wondering how they can help from home. THIS IS HOW. Take 3 minutes, make pictures with your kids and email them to pics4providers@gmail.com Tari Brodsky is a rockstar for many many reasons, but especially for her tremendous efforts both in and out of the hospital.