Most of us have heard or participated in the nightly 7 p.m. noisy salute to first responders during these pandemic times. It’s a seemingly small gesture, but it carries a lot of weight with first responders.
We know, because we asked them, and to a person, they were appreciative of the public’s support. It helps keep them going during long and grueling shifts that can be filled with a sense of dread as COVID-19 continues to steal people from us.
And we, as your community newspaper, felt compelled to let our first responders know just how valued and important they are by giving readers a look into the amazing work they are doing during this pandemic.
RELATED: Thank You First Responders
As many of you know, COVID-19 has been hard on the newspaper industry. We have seen layoffs, and a massive reduction in our bottom line. We have had to reduce our publishing schedule to a once-a-week product as we struggle to stay afloat. And so, when we put out the call for advertisers to join us, we were amazed at the response we got.
The first to sign up were the community-minded folks at Sutton Group WestCoast Realty. Then we saw non-traditional advertisers such as Cascade Aerospace, WestGen and Cryogen come aboard.
What compelled these companies to support our special section was an overwhelming need to say “thank you” to those they knew are making a very big sacrifice to keep us healthy and safe.
And we, as your community newspaper, could not be more thankful and grateful for their support.
We’ll get through this pandemic because we are stronger together and will do as much as we can to buoy the spirits of our first responders.
We also can all simply lighten their load by self-isolation and social distancing. It’s not rocket science and it’s not hard to do. We owe it to our first responders and we owe it to ourselves to be good citizens during these troubling times.
Stay safe and stay healthy.