One thing I love about this big, messy, diverse and often difficult city and all its surrounding suburbs is this: When there’s trouble and you give people a path they can go down to help, Chicagoans rush in.
I’ve seen it time and again, year after year. A family’s house burns down before Christmas — Chicagoans rush in. A West Side youth football team comes up just short raising money to attend a jamboree — Chicagoans rush in.
Last week, I wrote a column about the coronavirus pandemic and how it would leave many seniors and people with disabilities struggling with isolation. Not quite sure how it would work, I suggested we find ways to reach out to these people and call ourselves #PandemicPals.
And Chicagoans rushed in.
I’ve now responded to more than 150 emails from people who want to send cards or letters to folks who have suddenly found themselves cut off from visitors and unable to socialize. And the emails keep coming.
“I would love to do some card writing! Please let me know how to get started.”
“Would appreciate names and addresses of facilities or particular folks to whom I could write cards or letters.”
“I would love to get some addresses of people to write to. I am a kindergarten teacher and could share these addresses with my students and extended family. Let me know and we’re happy to participate.”
There was an almost rhythmic repetition to my email inbox: What can I do to help? What can I do to help? What can I do to help?
Let me first thank all who have taken time to reach out about #PandemicPals. I have done my level best to respond to everyone, but if I missed you, haven’t gotten to you yet, emailed you twice by accident or did anything dippy, please bear with me. I’m trying to keep up!
If you work at or run or know of an assisted-living facility, a facility that works with people with disabilities or any individuals who might benefit from cards or letters, let me know. I now have a small army of volunteers eager to help.
While I started off thinking #PandemicPals would focus on people making phone calls, it quickly became clear the logistics would be a bit much. Most facilities I contacted encouraged letters or cards and said residents love getting mail.
I’ve now heard from people recruiting friends in their book clubs to write letters, been sent photos of adorable kids working on paintings to be mailed and received a copy of a letter one kind gentleman is sending to residents of an assisted-living facility.
Here’s an excerpt from that letter: “Whoever you are, male or female, God bless you for who you are, the life you have led, and the people you have touched. This is a letter to you of hope and resilience. You need to possess both of those virtues in these tough times. ‘Tough times never last, but tough people do,’ quoted from the Rev. Robert Schuller.”
We’re all dealing with the fears and anxieties that come with this pandemic, and with the sweeping changes a statewide stay-at-home order has brought to our lives. And it seems we’ll be dealing with all this for some time to come.
But reading email after email after email from people who want to do what they can to help others is a shot of hope to the veins. It’s a reminder of what binds us.
I’m happy to be a conduit to those in isolation and in need of a boost. Keep reaching out and I’ll do all I can to respond and point folks in the right direction.
And thank you, Chicagoans. Thank you for rushing in.
Just like you always do.
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com
