For years, we have recognized the first week of May as National Small Business Week, National Nurses Day and Teacher Appreciation Week. It's fair to say that 'thank you' to each of these groups of individuals takes on new meaning. Does it seem ironic that each of these have been magnified as a result of the pandemic?!
As a parent of young children, who has been working from home for 7+ weeks while simultaneously homeschooling, I can say without a doubt that while I've always appreciated teachers for the incredible work they do to educate our future, that appreciation is taken to a whole new level this year. To all the teachers in and around Grinnell, and across the state and country, THANK YOU for all you do on a 'normal' day let alone these times of 'new normal'.
Nurses...where do I start? Putting yourselves on the frontlines of this pandemic every single day to keep our friends, families and neighbors as safe as possible. THANK YOU! I believe we have some pretty amazing nurses at each of our healthcare institutions which has only been exemplified over the last several weeks. We appreciate all you do, day in and day out, pandemic or not, and are incredibly grateful for your tenacity and courage to keep going every day.
And finally, our small businesses. While Small Business Week has technically been postponed and will be celebrated at a later time this year, we're recognizing you anyway! You all have endured so much change and volatility over the last several weeks, and you continue to persevere - THANK YOU! We cannot wait until the day you are all fully open again, and while we know that may look different (masks, counter shields, more hand sanitizer, etc) know that we are anxiously awaiting being able to support all of our small businesses in person again! Small businesses have historically employed the majority of Americans, and while we know many layoffs have had to happen at small businesses as a result of the pandemic, we also believe our small businesses will continue to respond in resilient ways and will grow as a result of these challenges. Small businesses are the heart of a community, and we are happy to support them in a multitude of ways.
Join me this week as we say THANK YOU to all our teachers, nurses and small business owners. You're all amazing!
--Rachael Kinnick
p.s. As businesses consider reopening strategies, we want to help connect you to PPE! If you represent a business, would you take two minutes to complete this survey?
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