www.TheWashingtonDailyNews.com
IN APPRECIATION
Saturday, May 30 – Sunday, May 31, 2020 • 1C
IN APPRECIATION of our hometown heroes and essential workers A SPECIAL SECTION TO THE WASHINGTON DAILY NEWS
The heroes among us By VAIL STEWART RUMLEY Washington Daily News
A
s the new year rang in, the idea of a pandemic was a farfetched prospect, a vague awareness of something happening in faraway places. As January stretched into February, the COVID-19 virus began to expand across nations, spreading closer to home every day. In March, the idea of a pandemic solidified and became the new reality, as schools and businesses were shuttered across the country, and people were asked to stay home, distance themselves from others — all in an effort to protect the health care system and prevent needless deaths. The routine of life was uprooted, replaced by working from home, crash courses in technology, reassembling those old routines into new ones that would fulfill the same purposes, though with a very different look. At the same time, COVID-19 and the measures taken to prevent its spread have revealed the hundreds of heroic figures that operate behind the scenes every day protecting, promoting and nurturing the community. The heroes among us are on the front line, health care workers and first responders. They have taken on the monumental task of teaching our children from afar. They have labored in kitchens to feed the community, organized church services that look nothing like traditional worship, kept their clients moving, adapted to new technology to keep the hospital safe for employees and patients alike. Each in their own way has contributed behind the scenes to the physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing of this community in these unprecedented times. Some of them are family, friends or neighbors. All of them are the silent heroes among us. There are so many, and, in appreciation, we’d like to introduce you to some of them.