Keep Moving Forward
by Jennifer Fox
There were many days in 2020 when we grappled with the unknown. As the number of individuals contracting COVID-19 grew, it became less a question of if we knew anyone with it but a shudder of dismay upon hearing who was most recently sick. How bad are they?
As the world tackled the pandemic, stay-at-home orders were issued, businesses were shut down, and work continued at home, if possible. Schools grappled with how to continue educating children while the internet and computers were not available to everyone. Parents working from home or called into the workplace struggled to find childcare for young children in virtual learning. Work/life balance had a whole new meaning.
With the unknown, store shelves became empty. Hand sanitizer and Clorox became hot commodities. Masks became mandated, and we questioned if we should wear gloves into the store. Factories shut down due to outbreaks, so items like meat and toilet paper became scarce. Fear gripped our nation.
Keep moving forward.
The ugly head of social injustice surfaced, and equality in healthcare was questioned. Riots and peaceful vigils alike were held to bring a voice to those who felt voiceless. The nation wrestled with a political division that divided neighbors and families.
Keep moving forward.
Words like ‘the new norm’ began circulating as mask mandates extended, gathering limits were placed, and celebrations were missed. Drive-by birthdays became a thing, and loved ones stood outside nursing homes to see their loved ones. High school seniors lost out on their last game, last dance, last day of school, and graduation ceremonies were canceled. College students were sent home to learn virtually. Without the opportunity for in-person learning, they also missed the unique time of dorm living, such as snacking on ramen noodles with friends while pulling an all-nighter.
Keep moving forward.
Our placement of the term hero shifted. We stopped looking to the NFL, NBA, USL, and such for people to look up to. Instead, we looked next door and in our community to the brave men and women who put themselves at risk daily to care for the sick. EMTs who stepped into homes to carry the weak to the hospital. Doctors and nurses whose faces bore the indentations of masks after 16-hour shifts. Men and women who held hands with the dying, unable to stop it. They became our heroes.
Keep moving forward.
We were in it together. We heard the plea for masks within the hospital, and we started sewing. We heard the call for necessities for those without jobs, and we gave food and supplies. We had porch drops where we left soup and a wave from the sidewalk when someone was sick. We did what we could within the unknown.
Keep moving forward.
The Henry County Community Foundation was built to make a difference during moments like these. When the world was shutting down, the endowments at the HCCF were still providing money to the nonprofits on the frontlines. When generous people wanted to give but didn’t know where they gave to the Foundation’s emergency fund, the Foundation guided their donations where the needs were the greatest. While we became a part of a world that seemed frozen, we kept moving forward.
In 2020, the Henry County Community Foundation celebrated 35 years of serving Henry County. Due to the restrictions, the celebration was limited to news stories and emails. However, it fitted to reflect on this anniversary in the year of the unknown because individuals who have given to the foundation in those 35 years made it possible for the Foundation to do its work in the midst of a pandemic.
A gift to an endowment at the Foundation means that gift is invested and never spent. Instead, the earnings from that investment are poured back into the community year after year, no matter what is happening around us. So, we thank those who have supported the work of the Foundation since 1985. Because of you, we kept moving forward in 2020.