The kids in the Eagle Point townhouse complex in Port Moody have been enthusiastic participants in the cacophony that clangs across the region every evening at 7 p.m. to thank the health care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle.
But when Megan Halfnights, 11, recently spied several painted rocks placed in a garden in front of Eagle Ridge Hospital (ERH) as she was walking her dog, she decided their gratitude could go further.
So she got her mom, Wendy, to connect her to her friends in the complex, which is across the street from the hospital, and they hatched a plan to gather chunks of wood and spare pieces of board to create colourful placards to add to the display.
Last Sunday, each family in its own home, but linked by video chat on their computers, got busy.
Megan said there was a lot of pressure to get their projects “just right,” given the toil of doctors, nurses, cleaners and other hospital staff as they deal with patients in respiratory distress.
“You want to make it good,” she said, “but you also want to have fun.”
Wendy Halfnights said with the kids out of school and prevented from playing with each other, it’s important to find creative ways to keep them together.
“Our number one job is to help the kids feel connected to each other and to the community,” she said, adding, “We definitely miss each other.”
Once the paint on the placards dried and then the artwork was protected with a coat of clear varnish, the group marched in familial groups — dutifully separated by at least two metres — to the garden along Guildford Way to place their messages where they could be seen by passing pedestrians, motorists and, most importantly, ERH staff arriving for work at the hospital each day.
The kids have continued their creative expressions by making pictures and posters with joyful messages to hang in their windows, and Megan Halfnights said she’s thinking of adding her clarinet to the nightly noise symphony.
Her mom said the effort has been infectious for everyone living in the neighbourhood in the best way possible.
“It’s a real testimony to our overall community spirit,” she said, adding even a simple activity like going for a walk or taking out the trash now presents a rare opportunity to make eye contact and share a smile with someone else outside their home, even briefly.
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