We the People.
That’s a powerful statement. If you think about it, that statement means Americans as a group, standing united.
Locally, that’s how the COVID-19 pandemic is being faced — as a people. Of course, emergency officials and health care providers are standing up to face the health crisis. And we’re all glad to see it.
What makes us even happier is the community response.
The Kane community, at the suggestion of Mayor Brandy Schimp, colored rainbows to put in windows for families to see when they walk a neighborhood. Creative visitation is being used for folks in nursing homes.
People have banded together to sew face masks when supplies aren’t readily available. Stores have donated supplies. People have put out the call on social media saying they have sewing machines available for others to use.
Folks are looking out for their neighbors. Prescription deliveries, help with food, offers to watch children for people in so-called life-sustaining jobs — this is what makes this region of the country stand out.
There’s a lot less traffic now than normal, but we’ve noticed people are more likely to stop for someone on a crosswalk now than they were a month ago.
This pandemic seems to be changing many people’s perspectives on what is important in life. Perhaps a crisis like this is a great equalizer. It no longer matters who are the “haves” and the “have nots,” now it matters that every household has enough to eat, enough medicine to get through.
The school districts feeding the children while schools are closed is absolutely wonderful. Otto-Eldred School District, which is geographically large, has sent food out in school buses to regular bus stops to make sure every child has a chance to eat.
We’ve seen YouTube videos of people like Betty White reading children’s books. Teachers have taught lessons on YouTube for parents to use at home. Some teachers have used video conference tools like FaceTime to reach out to students at home.
Some people have gone to stores not to stock their own shelves, but to stand in front of the store and give out food to others.
The Blessing Boxes through the Bradford area are filled more often than not these days.
Everyone understands this pandemic is hardship for themselves, but what we’re seeing locally is that the majority of people see that it is hard for everyone. Before calls were put out for help, people were stepping up to be helpers.
When the crisis has passed, and society begins to return to normal, we hope it’s a better normal than what came before.
We hope the lessons learned about perspective stick around, long after the virus is gone.
