‘White Heart’ project launched in North Okanagan to say thank you to health care workers
In an effort to find a way for the public to show their gratitude to healthcare workers, while practising social distancing, the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation has launched the White Hearts campaign.
The White Hearts For VJH Project is a way the public can send and display messages of gratitude to healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our healthcare and frontline workers are very courageous and making tough personal decisions on a daily basis, all for the good of our community. We wanted to provide a vehicle that would let them know how much we’re thinking about them and show them our support," Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation executive director Kate McBrearty said in a media release. "We’ve created a web page to mobilize our individual and collective expressions of gratitude."
The foundation chose a white heart as the symbol as it is often used to convey hope, pure thought and steadfast intention.
The foundation is encouraging people to send messages of encouragement through its website, post a white heart on windows and doors (a template is available on the website), and share photos and messages of appreciation on social media using the hashtag #WhiteHeartsforVJH.
"We’re inviting our North Okanagan community to really get behind this. It’s a simple but inspiring way to show how much we care," McBrearty said.
Posts to the website will be shared on social media, in staff newsletters and signage around health care facilities. To start the project, white hearts with heartfelt messages have been fixed to fences near the Vernon hospital's staff parking lot.
"As comments come in, additional signage will be posted by the foundation in various locations, being mindful of physical distancing and commitments to self-isolation,” she said.
To show support and get involved visit the website here.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
