

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP — Wondering how we make our list of open gas stations in Bergen County?

We get a lot of help from readers.

And if you follow @Bergen_NJ on Twitter, you know we were getting a lot of help from one woman in particular. Without being asked, Jennifer Kaufman volunteered Sunday to get on her Vespa and ride around Bergen County, texting us the names and addresses of every open gas station she saw, along with how long the lines were.

When we talked to Kaufman, an educator from Washington Township, we learned helping is her first instinct.

"It just comes from being a mom basically," she told NJ.com. "You get in the habit of just taking care of everybody."

Sunday wasn't the first time this weekend that Kaufman got on her Vespa to help someone in need. On Saturday, she loaded her scooter with blankets and cleaning supplies and rode to Little Ferry.

There she helped residents clean out their flooded homes.

"It was heartbreaking," she said. "If you lived on the first floor, you lost everything."

On Sunday, she got in touch with us after we posted our initial, very short list of open gas stations in Bergen County. Her contributions added 13 items to that list.

"I went from Westwood up to Montvale to Chestnut Ridge Road and into Allendale, down into Ridgewood, then to Glen Rock, up 208 and then down Kinderkamack Road," she said.

Kaufman says it was nothing—she loves riding her Vespa, and it gets great gas mileage.

"I just think that instead of sitting at home watching TV, everyone should be doing something," she said.

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