New York Post

Help? Let’s talk ‘shop’

- By KHRISTINA NARIZHNAYA and GABRIELLE FONROUGE

When Sandra Weinstein was battling the coronaviru­s, her entire family under isolation, she didn’t know how they would get food to eat.

If it weren’t for friends offering to shop for her, Weinstein (above) — with her husband and three daughters — would have had to get by on takeout for three meals a day.

So when she finally tested negative, the Manhattan dentist wanted to give back.

“I wasn’t allowed to go out. We are a family of five. I had a good friend ask me if she could pick something up for me. Every time she’d go to the supermarke­t, she asked. It was a huge help,” Weinstein, who lives in New Rochelle, told The Post. “When I tested negative, I wanted to do the same for others.”

After two weeks of quarantine and fighting “low-grade symptoms,” Weinstein, 45, was able to return to grocery stores — where she began randomly approachin­g elderly people and offering to shop for them.

“I hope I don’t insult you, but it’s not safe for you to be out shopping. Call me; I will do your shopping for you,” Weinstein would tell them.

She then reached out to the heads of local temples and senior organizati­ons and offered to help, telling them she was available for shopping for anyone who needed it. The requests started pouring in.

“It’s not just the elderly. It’s sick people who are younger, people who can’t go out,” Weinstein said.

Now the homebound send their shopping lists through text or e-mail and then Weinstein hits the shops, sometimes with three or four lists at a time.

“You don’t know how many stores I would go to for that one roll of toilet paper,” Weinstein said of her early trips.

“I shop sometimes in multiple stores, the supermarke­t, a kosher store, CVS. I literally go through the aisles so many times looking for items to cross off the lists. I put [the items] in different parts of my wagon, the top or bottom, so I know what’s what.”

These days, she spends time scouring stores for disinfecta­nt, and recently grabbed the last bottle of Clorox at her local Harmon’s grocery store for one of the people she helps.

“I have the time,” said Weinstein, who believes her recovery from COVID-19 offers her some degree of immunity.

“I still disinfect, of course, but I’d like to put this ability to good use. I’m used to working full time, being productive.”

Do you have a nominee for The Post’s Hero of the Day? E-mail heroes@nypost.com.

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