The wind blew cold and the participants in the annual Martin Luther King Day/Equality Day events remembered those less fortunate than themselves, even without the annual march and service at First United Methodist Church.
Vicki Pollock was among those who donated coats for Project Homeless Connect in the parking lot between the Wyoming Food for Thought Project and the James Reeb Memorial Park.
Pollock handed them to volunteer Janet deVries, whose SUV was already stuffed with coats collected during the day.
The donations were part of the alternative to the annual march canceled due to COVID-19.
But changes wrought by the pandemic spurred some creativity.
This year s Martin Luther King Day of Service and Remembrance on Monday won t feature a rally, a march or a service at the United Methodist Church.
Like so many other events affected by the coronavirus pandemic, it will go virtual with the launch of a multi-year community service project, according to Servewyoming.org.
The Casper Freedom Trail project features a virtual tour of locations related to the civil rights movement in Casper.
Servewyoming will post an online presentation of the trail. After you have watched it, the organization invites you to drive through Casper to view the places featured on the trail map, starting in north Casper on East H Street, then to Second Baptist Church on North Durbin Street to the Mathew Campfield Park on East M Street.
Point In Time Survey of Homeless Different This Year
The annual counting of homeless people in Yakima will look a little different this year because of COVID-19. It s called the annual Point in Time Survey and it s usually coupled with the Project Homeless Connect, a one day service fair. But the fair has been cancelled this year. And officials with Yakima County and the Homeless Network of Yakima County say they won t use volunteers to conduct the count this year so they re not exposed.
Instead they ll use workers in outreach programs. The outreach workers will conduct the survey while in the field later this month.
Credit freeimages.com/Iwan Beijes
As the general public waits to get access to the COVID-19 vaccines, plans are underway to launch a vaccine literacy program early next year.
Led by faculty members at the Wegmans School of Pharmacy at St. John Fisher College, the yearlong educational campaign will focus on dispelling myths and misinformation about immunizations. The program is funded by a $20,000 grant from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
Ramil Sapinoro, associate professor of pharmaceutical science at St. John Fisher College, said mistrust and misconceptions of vaccines in general have spilled over to specific concerns about the new COVID-19 vaccines, partly because of the speed with which they were developed.
Disability Network of the Thumb helps Upper Thumb families through the pandemic
Paige Withey, paige.withey@hearstnp.com
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UPPER THUMB With the coronavirus pandemic taking a financial toll on individuals and families across the upper thumb, the Disability Network of the Thumb and Huron County Homeless Solutions is working harder than ever to help those struggling to pay back rent or utilities, through the help of some newly implemented state programs.
Previously known as Blue Water Center for Independent Living, the Disability Network of the Thumb is the main housing agency in the thumb serving Huron, Tuscola, Sanilac and Lapeer Counties.