Emily Rann has found a new and unexpected hobby over the last couple of weeks. After spending months in quarantine, she asked herself a simple question.

“How can I utilize this time to do something useful--productive--to feel like I’m making some kind of difference?” Rann pondered.

In the last year, Rann has jumped in every chance she can to help her community. Using mutual aid as a driving force, now she can add signing people up for vaccination appointments to that list.

“Ill help every single person I can. So that’s what I’ve been doing,” Rann puts simply.

Within just a couple weeks, Rann booked over 200 appointments. A task that she realizes is easier for her as a stay at home mom.

Rann knows not everyone has the time to spend refreshing internet pages and searching for open vaccination appointments, which encouraged her to create the email babygotvax@gmail.com.

She is working hard to expand her reach to those without the time, without the means, or without the understanding to get vaccinated.

“You help your neighbors, they help you back. And it all kind of comes full circle," she said.

Her approach to getting the word out is a little old school, she just asks.

“I just walk up to people and I’m like, ‘Oh hey, you’re delivering food. Are you vaccinated? Do you want to be? I can help you.’"

Passing along business cards to restaurant workers, Uber drivers, and anyone who qualifies, offering to find them an appointment. And when people ask what they can give her in return, Rann has a few simple answers:

“I don’t want flowers. I don’t want Caviar. I don't want Russ and Daughters. For me the thing that that person is doing, for me, is going and getting that vaccine. That's the thing that’s going to get us back to normal and is going to work for all of us,” Rann said.

Rann wants to harness the gratitude of others by encouraging them to donate to community refrigerators, because she knows the issue of food insecurity isn’t disappearing anytime soon and that’s one small step toward bringing the city back.

Rann spends time each week collecting excess food from local restaurants, making sure the Chelsea community fridge is constantly stocked. She said she's grateful that in this simple way she can let her neighbors know she has their back.

“It’s our food, it’s the community. We’re all in this together. And that’s what Covid did. It helped us realize that we all depend on each other way more than we think,” Rann said.

For handing out some help, Emily Rann, is our New Yorker of the Week.