South Bend Tribune
It can be overwhelming reading and listening to all the news surrounding the coronavirus. But there are a lot of good stories happening in our community during this difficult time, and you don’t have to look too far to find them.
Merely perusing Facebook and other social media outlets provide some of those instances of hope.
Like the story of Saint Joseph High School hockey coach Chris Kleva and his #CoachKlevaChallenge.
Kleva noted how the COVID-19 outbreak has had far-reaching effects in our communities, especially among the elderly. Kleva challenged his team to be “stewards of God” in the community and, at the same time, challenged to the wider Saint Joe family.
“I believe all nursing homes have closed their doors to visitors, this includes family members. These are lonely places to begin with, but now activities, visitors, and their everyday normal life has stopped.”
Kleva encouraged his team to take just 10 minutes a couple days each week to write a letter to a community nursing home resident to let them know someone is thinking about them, praying for them, and assuring them that as a community we will get through these difficult times. He also asked them to reach out and encourage friends to do the same with the several nursing homes and retirement communities in our area.
In another bright spot, Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw had her own food drive last week. McGraw traveled through her Granger neighborhood leaving pamphlets at homes encouraging residents to fill a bag with food items and leave it on the front porch. McGraw and other volunteers then drove through the neighborhood, picked up the bags and donated them to the Food Bank of Northern Indiana.
“When you look at our community, so many people need help. We can go to the store and stock up and have two weeks of food, but not everybody’s in a position to do that. They’re living day to day,” McGraw told WSBT-TV.
And the gestures that help the community don’t need to be big. Another woman, on her way to the grocery store, had cleaned out her cupboard of plastic and styrofoam containers for donation to St. Margaret’s House in downtown South Bend. At the time, St. Margeret’s had listed a need for containers to be used for carryout meals for the women it serves. (Due to generous response, they are set with donations of containers for now).
In trying times like these, gestures don’t have to be grand to make a difference.
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