CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It's been a hard couple of weeks. The bonds that make us a community are being tested. The helpers who we pass day by day continue making risky sacrifices to help complete strangers. At our worst, the Carolinas have proven we can be at our best.
Amid concerns surrounding COVID-19, we've seen neighborhoods, businesses, and individuals rising to the challenge. A city of transplants has demonstrated that we truly care about those who live among us.
Teachers from Union County to Mecklenburg County have shown how much they truly care. They've paraded by the homes of their students, letting them know they're still there.
We've seen the numbers of COVID-19 cases rise, locally and nationally. It's forced us to evolve in our daily lives.
For instance, we've seen a couple who took date-night to a whole new level, during a pandemic.
Instead of canceling their romantic outing, they adapted their date-night at Mama Ricotta's to a tailgate date. Instead of the Italian food served on a porch with a skyline view, they took their to-go order, pitched a fold-able table in the bed of a truck and still found a way to have a romantic outing.
Local businesses in the Charlotte area have rallied, too. Doc Porter's Distillery in Lower South End has been working to make a new type of cocktail: the hand sanitizer several organizations have needed most.
However, nothing could come close to the effort our healthcare workers are putting forward. The selfless sacrifices of doctors, nurses, technicians, and even the janitors who are keeping our hospitals clean, are both admirable and incomparable.
'Thank you,' will never be enough for what they are doing on the frontlines; fighting a pandemic that seems to be insurmountable.
Still, ordinary people have stepped up over the past week, serving a bite to eat to those at our hospitals who could most certainly use the energy to push on.
Others have sewn masks from home, doing their part to fix a shortage to keep our medical professionals safe, as they try to keep us in the same condition.
The support may be overwhelming, but we could never do enough to show gratitude to those who are fighting to keep our community healthy.
But, there is one thing we can do.
Technology has shown us the needs and wants of our healthcare workers.
The posts showing medical professionals on the battlefield have noted, 'I stayed at work for you. You stay at home for us.'
Perhaps, if we took their desires and made the small sacrifices of our daily lives, we too could help alleviate their workload and help flatten the curve. We've been warned about the detrimental impacts that could happen if we don't.
It's on us to show how much we care. We have the power to fight this through our individual actions, and along the way, show kindness and support as we do our part.
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