Life during covid: Windber woman offers helping hand in a variety of ways

Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series examining how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the lives of members of our community.

Donna LaMonaca is no stranger to helping others.

A little less than a year ago, as the covid-19 pandemic ramped up across the world, the Windber resident helped distribute surplus milk cartons, solicited donations to help provide meals for families in need and, with her family’s help, prepared 20 Easter baskets and 50 complete Easter dinners.

So it should come as no surprise that LaMonaca put her considerable talents to use continuing to help others as covid-19 vaccines became available — although not always easy to locate.

LaMonaca volunteers her time helping older residents find vaccination appointments, and has been able to secure 50 such appointments in the past three weeks for those in the 1A vaccine group.

That means setting her alarm for 12:30 a.m., 2:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. — times when she’s found that many vaccination sites begin posting available appointment times — and lining up the family’s computer, laptop, three cellphones and three tablets to start refreshing web pages and trying to secure appointments.

“I’m computer-savvy, I can type fast and I’ll get up in the middle of the night when the appointments are posted online,” said LaMonaca, an 18-year employee of the Transportation Safety Administration.

Helping others is a tradition in LaMonaca’s family.

“My dad was president at St. Vincent de Paul in Johnstown and pretty much my whole life we’ve been doing some kind of community service somewhere,” she said.

She started helping with appointments for elderly relatives. Soon, she found they were asking if she could help their friends.

“A lot of the seniors I’ve helped ending up giving me the phone number for a friend,” she said. “They are usually high-risk seniors, maybe someone who has cancer. I get them an appointment and I drive some of them to their appointments when I have the day off.”

LaMonaca started taking a nap after her shift at the Johnstown-Cambria Airport to catch up on sleep.

And she certainly is not alone in her quest to help others. The covid-19 vaccine rollout in Pennsylvania has its share of difficulties. Westmoreland County officials recently placed plans to create a vaccine registry on hold in favor of looking into large-scale vaccination sites, and a group of University of Pittsburgh students and volunteers make hundreds of daily phone calls to update VaccinatePA.org, a site seeking to provide as much information as possible on available vaccinations across Pennsylvania.

LaMonaca’s selflessness also rubbed off on her 13-year-old son Geno, who helps by providing a checklist of items for those being vaccinated, like photo ID and insurance cards.

“He helps them fill out the paperwork before we get there to speed up the process,” LaMonaca said. “It teaches him that it’s important to give back to his community and it gives us something to do to spend something time together.”

LaMonaca said she explained the situation to Geno using a sailing analogy.

“I always tell my kiddos: we are all not in the same boat, but we are on the same river,” she said. “Everyone has a different boat and even though you may think you have a nice boat, you never know when you may need something as simple as a raft. So help everyone when you can, no matter what.”

LaMonaca’s supervisor said that dedication shows in both her professional and personal life.

“Donna has a big heart and a genuine compassion for others,” said Karen Keys Turner, regional TSA federal security director. “Her dedication to her community is admirable. She serves as a role model for her fellow TSA officers because she’s someone who leads by example.”

For LaMonaca, the reward is in seeing not necessarily the gratitude of those she helps, but the relief in seeing a way out of the pandemic.

“One woman called me afterward,” she said. “She was so happy because she said she could finally see her grandchildren and give them their Christmas presents.”