We can’t wait.

Invisible Hands started with one young man delivering food and other necessities to vulnerable people during the COVID-19 crisis. Now there are 12,000 volunteers helping their neighbors across NYC.

“Across the country, there are incredible stories of folks stepping up to help their neighbors, stories like this one. It's who we are as Americans. Brave and big-hearted. Always willing to lend a hand and care for those in need. We will overcome this, together.”

- President Joe Biden

[Elkind] built the group’s sleek Web site in a day. During the next ninety-six hours, twelve hundred people volunteered; some of them helped to translate the organization’s flyer into more than a dozen languages and distributed copies of it to buildings around the city.

“As the coronavirus pandemic began to spread, a small group of young folks realized that their neighbors could not leave their homes to get food, medicine, and other essentials so they delivered items to them for free”

- TJ Holmes

Invisible Hands, founded by three young people, now has thousands of volunteers in New York and New Jersey. ‘Sophia is not alone, and neither am I.’

“And even just the notion that within two days, I could go from sitting on my butt watching Netflix feeling useless in the world to being tweeted about by the future president of the United States ... speaks to the incredible power of social organizing and movements,” Elkind said.

On delivery day Tuesday, Elkind and Sterling met for the first time over her paper bag of groceries outside her 15th-floor apartment on the Upper West Side. It was a moment of “tikkun olam” between the two congregants of the progressive and service-minded Stephen Wise Free Synagogue.

But Elkind knew there were still vulnerable people out there and wanted to do more. He expanded the service to address the longer-term crisis of food insecurity.

Elkind added: "It's nice to know that, in this time when it feels like the world is pulling us apart, that we are able to come together a little bit."

“Food insecurity is not a local issue, it's a global one,” says Elkind. “If anyone out there is interested in joining us, please sign up to volunteer, donate whatever you can”

“As Jews, we are charged with serving our community. I have tried to live up to this solemn responsibility through my organizing and volunteer work, as well as in the everyday interactions that brighten a day or bring a smile to someone’s face — small acts of kindness that, in concert, power our entire community.”

Amid a global pandemic Liam Elkind found a way to help vulnerable communities in the New York City area through a virtual network of risk-taking volunteers.

A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. And in these unprecedented times, we need that hero. We need more of the people you’re about to meet: brave, selfless, compassionate, young heroes.  

"Liam Elkind quickly took to social media and quickly made a whole lot of new friends all interested in doing the same thing. They partnered with churches, synagogues, food pantries, and other nonprofits to help deliver groceries and medicine free of charge to those who need it.”

- Errol Louis

This year, The Webby Awards is recognizing the everyday heroes who are rising to the task by using the Internet to organize and make a difference in their communities. For answering the call to help, and for creating a service to deliver groceries and essentials to New Yorkers who are most vulnerable to COVID-19, it is our great privilege to honor Invisible Hands.

“Join me in applauding the efforts of Morningside Heights resident Liam Elkind (@InvHandsDeliver) as today’s #NY13LocalHero for shopping and delivering groceries to the elderly and immunocompromised during the #COVID19 crisis. thank you Liam to you and the team!”

- Adriano Espaillat