Celebrating Independence Live! Re-invention: The Mother of Necessity

from Central Florida Lifestyle: Winter Park May 2020

IN THE KITCHEN

Re-invention – The Mother of Necessity

Board members on the virtual board meeting.

How the West Orange Chamber of Commerce is adapting to fulfill the needs of its members during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mother’s Day 2020 will be unlike any Mother’s Dayever celebrated.Even though it will be different, the overallexpressionof love and appreciation willstillshine through. I knowtwo ofmy sons won’t be able to be with me due to social distancingandreal hugs will be replaced by air hugs on virtual calls,but my sons know that I’ll be here for them, no matter what.That’s what mothers do!

I also know that the worries,fearsand anxietiesa mother has for her children, no matter their age, pales in comparison to those we’re currently experiencingfor ourentirecommunity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No one could have imagined the turmoil thatwould be created in such a short amount of time toourworld,a booming economyto onestruggling.Undoubtedly, there is reason for worry,fearand anxiety, yet we cannot let these feelings paralyze us.

We will move forward by leaning on one another, learning from one another and adapting to a new, and I hope better, world.The chamber,just like many small businesses, especially service businesses,has had to adapt and reinvent itself.We have leaned on and learned from others within our industryand shared what we’ve learned with our members.

Aseach day brought more and moreawareness to the severity and time frame of this pandemic, the chamber quickly realized that we hadto perform our role even faster and in different ways.We were easily able to demonstrate the resourcesat our finger tips, connections, ingenuity andspeed of action that PHOTOS COURTESY OF WEST ORANGE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE By Stina D’Uva, West Orange Chamber of Commerce Vice President Krista Carter hosting a virtual event.

our chamber has in times like this, and honestly, every day.We utilizedthe information we were able to gatherfromour local, state and federal governments and the U.S. and Florida Chambers,to createprogramming for our members to assist them as they navigatetheseuncertain times.

Some of the activities that we couldn’t have envisioned as avirtualevent a month ago now seem almost matter of fact.Virtual has become a new way of life and turned out to be a popular means to deliver valuable information to a large number of our members and others.We now have virtual Spotlight Speakers, virtual Lead and Feedevents, “Call, Listen and Learn” events and our first-ever virtual board meeting.We will even host a Business Happy Hour, rather than a Business After Hours, on May 14.

To see all the events and the COVID-19 Resource page, visit wochamber. com.Working together as an entire community, much like a family, is how we will get through this.Stayinghealthy is the first priority and the rest will follow.