On April 8, 2020, almost a year to the day he began his career with Deployed Resources, Ben Kovarik found himself driving to New York City.

With the weather in the mid-60s, the city should have been bustling with people enjoying the early-Spring sunshine. New York City however was the epicenter of the global Coronavirus pandemic, so the usually traffic-jammed, bustling city home to just over 8 Million people, was eerily empty.

 “I’ve never been to New York City before and was expecting what I would see on TV but it was an absolute ghost town,” Ben said. “I remember getting 10 green lights in a row. The only traffic was ambulances, delivery drivers, and police officers.”

Kovarik, a carpenter by trade who also has his Commercial Drivers license, didn’t hesitate when asked if he would drive to New York City from the Deployed Resources’ Mississippi yard to drop off 2 temporary tent structures. The tents were donated by Deployed Resources to Mount Sinai Hospital to help with their COVID-19 relief and medical care efforts. 

When asked how he was feeling on his drive to the “Big Apple”, Ben said, “If I was going to catch COVID, I was going to catch COVID. It didn’t give me any pause. This was just as important or life-saving to someone like everything else we do. Whether repairing a shower unit or driving to NYC with a loaded tent – something that needs to be done, needs to be done.”

After Ben dropped the donated tents off to Mount Sinai Hospital, he got back on the road to Mississippi.  “I’m not a hero,” Ben says humbly.  “Deployed Resources provided all of the necessary PPE that I needed – I wore a mask, gloves, had wipes, and hand sanitizer so I wasn’t concerned. I did the job that was asked of me and was happy to be able to get in the truck and help people.”

Ben hopes to one day be able to come back to New York City and enjoy the sites, sounds, and perhaps a good slice of New York City pizza upon his return.