By Kathy Brown.
(April 21, 2020) — The previous articles in this series can be found HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE (you can find mask pattern links and other programs running in the community in those articles).
There seems to be no end to the kindness in the Haddam and Killingworth communities. I keep thinking that the ideas will peter out as we go on for week after week of quarantine during COVID-19, but instead, the acts of kindness just keep coming.
Essential Workers Appreciation
Beth Gagliardi, a teacher at Haddam Killingworth Middle School and Killingworth resident, thought that the essential/frontline workers in our community needed a little appreciation and attention. She’s running a contest, and the winners will each receive a gift certificate from a local business, and all the nominees will be recognized. The local businesses are either in our community or owned by someone in our community. So far the gift certificates will be from:
- Savour Bakery in Essex owned by Kim Kroeber Thomas
- The Cooking Company
- DaVinci’s Pizzeria
- The Copper Skillet
- The Bread Girl
- Andie’s Cookies owned by Andrea Freibauer
- The Barrelhouse owned by Amanda Brackett
- LaForesta owned by Francesco Lulaj
- Salon H owned by Heidi Eichler Corcoran
- Montana Nights owned by Merle and Diana McKenzie
- Cafe Routier owned by Kerrie Ann and Brian Parri
- Po’s Rice and Spice owned by Mark Fong and his wife.
- Ice Cream Emergency owned by Mike Natanzon
If you would like to donate a gift certificate to your business, please contact Beth at bethgagliardi73@gmail.com. If you would like to nominate an essential worker who lives in Haddam or Killingworth, contact Beth and tell her why you’re nominating that person. If you would like to donate money so that more gift certificates can be purchased, her Paypal is bethgagliardi
Donations and nominations are due by May 3. The winners will be drawn and announced on Sunday, May 10, 2020.
Donations to the Haddam Volunteer Fire Company
I was chatting with one of the members of the Haddam Volunteer Fire Company about masks, and she said that the members of the fire department were walking around the station without masks. I asked how many she needed for firefighters, and then reached out to one of the first people I had talked to for my first “Signs of Our H-K Community Coming Together” article which was published March 31. Within minutes, Tara McCarthy had returned my email, said she had just finished a batch of masks, and could give 20 to the HVFC, and where could she drop them off. Her original goal was 100 masks, but she has surpassed that, and has made 120.
The Haddam Lions is donating a 55-gallon drum of sanitizer to the HVFC so that they can clean equipment, surfaces, and apparatus.
Dog Walking
Thea Werneke of Higganum has a dog walking service, and she has offered free dog walking services to any healthcare worker in the local area in need of her pet service during COVID-19. “I have four healthcare workers that I worked for before all of this and I have seen first hand how much they need peace of mind in a lot of areas,” said Thea. “Especially when it comes to their furbabies. They are working 12+ hour shifts and it is awesome to be able to give them the peace of mind that their furbabies are loved and cared for. One less thing for them to have on their plates.” Check out her website and choose “Meet and Greet” or her Facebook page. She’s also making masks for residents who need them.
Little Free Library
Michele Ouellette, who lives on Haddam Ridge, thought a Little Free Library would be a good resource to have in the neighborhood during COVID-19 so that people could share books during quarantine. The neighborhood then held a GoFundMe campaign to raise the money necessary to buy the “library.” The campaign started on March 23, according to Michele, and “within one week, we raised enough money to purchase the library, a post complete with a hook for a dog leash, cement for the post, and flowers for landscaping.” The Little Free Library was installed on April 16 to provide a source of books during Distance Learning and “has had a steady stream of visitors since.”
