Community Involvement During Pandemic Praised
April 23, 2020 at 12:11 a.m.
Community Involvement During Pandemic Praised
By David [email protected]
“I’m often asked, ‘How I can donate?’, ‘Who should I donate to?’ in this time of difficulty. I’m extremely humbled by the outpouring of support from our community,” Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said during the fourth weekly news briefing Wednesday at city hall. “Sewing masks, giving time, checking in on neighbors, trying to help those in need. God bless you all. It’s just overwhelming.”
He said he wasn’t surprised at the outpouring of support because “that’s what this community is all about.”
He suggested some organizations people could donate to included Kosciusko County Community Foundation’s Rapid Response Fund, United Way of Kosciusko County and K21 Health Foundation, which all assists local not-for-profit organizations.
“Certainly, you can donate directly to your favorite individual not-for-profits,” Thallemer said.
Along with Thallemer, Wednesday’s press conference included Kosciusko County Commissioner Bob Conley, Kosciusko Public Health Officer Dr. Bill Remington, United Way of Kosciusko County President Darren Bickel and Lutheran Health Physicians/Kosciusko Medical Group Vice President Megan Martin.
Martin said, “You had mentioned the community’s outpouring of support. We have seen that locally at our hospital. It has been phenomenal. It’s been so heartwarming to see. We have had so many people come through. We’ve had masks donated to us. We have had commercially prepared food sent in to our staff, as well as good wishes and donations. The churches, the businesses, the local community members, it’s just been great and so appreciative.”
She said the United Way of Kosciusko County collaborated with seamstresses to provide cloth masks for the appropriate hospital staff, which helps preserve other masks for those healthcare workers on the frontlines working with patients who have COVID-19.
“We have just been very appreciative of the support we have seen,” she said.
Bickel said, “When all of this first started to hit, our phone just rang off the hook with people just saying, ‘It’s an emergency, it’s a disaster, what do we do to help?’ And we had all of our Midwestern roots that had that impulse to roll up our sleeves, show up somewhere and start treating the problem. And we had to say, ‘No, no. Don’t do that. We don’t volunteer the traditional way anymore.’”
He said there’s been a real cleverness by people to find ways to help, almost immediately.
“We saw it with staff at Warsaw (Community) High School who said, ‘We make costumes for the productions for the drama department here, we can sew masks.’ And we started what is now a small army of seamstresses that have been making masks for the appropriate people at the hospitals and Cardinal Center and different places,” Bickel said.
He also gave examples of how engineers at DePuy and students at Grace College chipped in to make face shields and ear clips.
“So we began to say, ‘Wow! This is not only a compassionate and determined community, but it’s really a clever one, saying, ‘OK, we can’t volunteer how we normally do, we have to do that with 3D printers and sewing machines; we’re going to mobilize, we’re still going to get that done,’” Bickel said.
“I wish you could see what we see every day in the United Way office where folks are calling in, and emailing in and reaching out and saying, ‘I want to help, I want to do something, how can we (do that)?”
He praised the local school systems – Warsaw, Wawasee, Tippecanoe Valley – for preparing and distributing over 29,000 meals to students last week.
“That’s just an amazing number,” Bickel said. “... I think this disaster has pushed people into needing help who never saw themselves as needing help before.”
He said if anyone is having food issues anywhere in the community, they should reach out. “No one should be hungry right now or going through that instability,” he said, adding that United Way has partners who can help or people can call 211 for information.
As for donations, Bickel said, “If you want to help, and don’t know in particular what you want to do, both community foundations have response funds and we have a similar fund at United Way. We are very clear that this is not going to be over nearly as quickly as we would all like. It’s going to take time to get through this. Across that, needs are going to change and things are going to be different when we get to June, July or August than they are now.”
All the nonprofits in the community have needs, he said.
Thallemer said Bickel has done a great job of bringing many, many people together.
“There are many, many resources in this community. It’s just a matter of plugging those concerns toward those resources, and I think we’ve done a reasonable job. But as you suggest, and as Dr. Remington suggests, we are in the fifth inning and we have time on this thing that it’s not going to come back right away. Our lives are going to change forever, I’m convinced of that.”
“I’m often asked, ‘How I can donate?’, ‘Who should I donate to?’ in this time of difficulty. I’m extremely humbled by the outpouring of support from our community,” Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said during the fourth weekly news briefing Wednesday at city hall. “Sewing masks, giving time, checking in on neighbors, trying to help those in need. God bless you all. It’s just overwhelming.”
He said he wasn’t surprised at the outpouring of support because “that’s what this community is all about.”
He suggested some organizations people could donate to included Kosciusko County Community Foundation’s Rapid Response Fund, United Way of Kosciusko County and K21 Health Foundation, which all assists local not-for-profit organizations.
“Certainly, you can donate directly to your favorite individual not-for-profits,” Thallemer said.
Along with Thallemer, Wednesday’s press conference included Kosciusko County Commissioner Bob Conley, Kosciusko Public Health Officer Dr. Bill Remington, United Way of Kosciusko County President Darren Bickel and Lutheran Health Physicians/Kosciusko Medical Group Vice President Megan Martin.
Martin said, “You had mentioned the community’s outpouring of support. We have seen that locally at our hospital. It has been phenomenal. It’s been so heartwarming to see. We have had so many people come through. We’ve had masks donated to us. We have had commercially prepared food sent in to our staff, as well as good wishes and donations. The churches, the businesses, the local community members, it’s just been great and so appreciative.”
She said the United Way of Kosciusko County collaborated with seamstresses to provide cloth masks for the appropriate hospital staff, which helps preserve other masks for those healthcare workers on the frontlines working with patients who have COVID-19.
“We have just been very appreciative of the support we have seen,” she said.
Bickel said, “When all of this first started to hit, our phone just rang off the hook with people just saying, ‘It’s an emergency, it’s a disaster, what do we do to help?’ And we had all of our Midwestern roots that had that impulse to roll up our sleeves, show up somewhere and start treating the problem. And we had to say, ‘No, no. Don’t do that. We don’t volunteer the traditional way anymore.’”
He said there’s been a real cleverness by people to find ways to help, almost immediately.
“We saw it with staff at Warsaw (Community) High School who said, ‘We make costumes for the productions for the drama department here, we can sew masks.’ And we started what is now a small army of seamstresses that have been making masks for the appropriate people at the hospitals and Cardinal Center and different places,” Bickel said.
He also gave examples of how engineers at DePuy and students at Grace College chipped in to make face shields and ear clips.
“So we began to say, ‘Wow! This is not only a compassionate and determined community, but it’s really a clever one, saying, ‘OK, we can’t volunteer how we normally do, we have to do that with 3D printers and sewing machines; we’re going to mobilize, we’re still going to get that done,’” Bickel said.
“I wish you could see what we see every day in the United Way office where folks are calling in, and emailing in and reaching out and saying, ‘I want to help, I want to do something, how can we (do that)?”
He praised the local school systems – Warsaw, Wawasee, Tippecanoe Valley – for preparing and distributing over 29,000 meals to students last week.
“That’s just an amazing number,” Bickel said. “... I think this disaster has pushed people into needing help who never saw themselves as needing help before.”
He said if anyone is having food issues anywhere in the community, they should reach out. “No one should be hungry right now or going through that instability,” he said, adding that United Way has partners who can help or people can call 211 for information.
As for donations, Bickel said, “If you want to help, and don’t know in particular what you want to do, both community foundations have response funds and we have a similar fund at United Way. We are very clear that this is not going to be over nearly as quickly as we would all like. It’s going to take time to get through this. Across that, needs are going to change and things are going to be different when we get to June, July or August than they are now.”
All the nonprofits in the community have needs, he said.
Thallemer said Bickel has done a great job of bringing many, many people together.
“There are many, many resources in this community. It’s just a matter of plugging those concerns toward those resources, and I think we’ve done a reasonable job. But as you suggest, and as Dr. Remington suggests, we are in the fifth inning and we have time on this thing that it’s not going to come back right away. Our lives are going to change forever, I’m convinced of that.”
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