SAEM PULSE | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
SOCIAL EM
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Hoops for Health: EM Residents Respond to Public Recreation Closures During COVID By Michael Okoronkwo, MD It was the 10th and final stop on a hot summer afternoon U-Haul drive delivering basketball hoops and balls to local New Orleans families. Tomi, sweat drenched as he reclined in the passenger seat, and I, lamented at the exhaustion of our days’ work. We had already driven 55 miles across the city to the homes of nine families. Though our service was with grace, by this time we were tired and prepared to simply
drop off and go as the family emerged from the house. Admittedly, our grace was now guilty of greed. “When times get tough, my sons will recall the memory of today.” Anne, the foster mother of two brothers, uttered this sentiment to us as her sons excitedly ran off dribbling the basketballs. These words invigorated the return of our grace to recapture the selfless purpose which inspired Tomi and me
to establish Drive and Dish. With the assistance of Oluwatomi Akingbola, a University of Pennsylvania emergency medicine resident, I created the Drive and Dish initiative as a response to public recreation closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such closures, I felt, threatened the health and safety of community youth, as recreation had always been a mental and physical safety net for me as a child. It oriented me into my goal of collegiate athletics.
