Michelle Donahe, left, and Mary Haugen sort through hundreds of cards for the Bee A Blessing card drive at Stamp-n-Storage in Hutchinson. The cards of thanks and encouragement will be sent on to health care workers around the country fighting on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
During these uncertain times, any act of kindness can help. And according to a team of five working on the Bee A Blessing card drive at Stamp-n-Storage in Hutchinson, that kindness means a lot to those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
Michelle Donahe, marketing manager at Stamp-n-Storage, said the drive asks papercrafters to send cards to their shop, and the cards are then sent on to hospitals, nursing homes, emergency responders and other locations around the country.
The idea for Bee a Blessing first came to Donahe before the pandemic, while working at her church, where her pastor had a message: “Blessed to be a blessing.”
“Afterwards, we started kind of a secret group … where we encouraged people by sending them a card.” Donahe said. “But we didn't sign our names, we just put ‘Be a blessing' at the bottom of them, and that's where the 'bee' logo came into play. So that's where it started.”
Working at Stamp-n-Storage and thinking of ways to help during the public health crisis, Donahe thought the concept seemed like a good idea and gives the store’s customers an outlet to bless others.
“We're in the craft industry, so our customers are people who are papercrafters,” she said. “People that papercraft, they do it because they want to spread joy. I mean that's why they papercraft. They love sending thank you cards and encouragement cards. They're putting their hearts whole into these cards. Some of these cards probably take two to three hours to make.”
Hundreds of handmade cards are sorted on tables to be sent to health care workers, nursing homes and first responders. The Bee a Blessing card drive has received more than 6,000 cards so far and sent them to 78 hospitals around the U.S.
After receiving a pile of cards, the Stamp-n-Storage team separates them and spreads them out to be sent to multiple places around the U.S. So far, she estimated Bee a Blessing has sent more than 6,000 encouragement cards to 78 hospitals across the country. That doesn't include blank cards, which are also sent out in the hope recipients will fill them out and pay it forward.
“So we're sorting out the cards … and then we're researching the hospitals, figuring out where we're going to send them to, and then our shipping team is putting those cards and mailing them out to all the different locations,” Donahe said.
While the cards are sent to many places, they are specifically being sent to areas hit the hardest by coronavirus, such as hospitals in New York and New Jersey.
“We actually got an email back … from the medical director of a hospital in New Jersey … chief medical officer of the hospital in New Jersey saying thank you so much, this touched their team so much, and he actually asked if we could send more cards,” Donahe said.
A few other states where cards were sent include Pennsylvania, California, North Carolina, Washington and, of course, here in Minnesota.
This is the first card drive Donahe has done, but she said Bee A Blessing is already receiving requests for more cards. And she doesn't plan to stop when the pandemic finally begins to wane.
“We'll start continuing to send to hospitals throughout the U.S. that maybe aren't hit as hard but are still obviously going through this,” she said.
People who want to donate cards to the drive or who would like to suggest a location where cards can be sent can learn more online at stampnstorage.com/blog/bee-a-blessing-card-drive/. You can also join the Bee a Blessing Card Drive Facebook group.
Donahe believes the success of the Bee A Blessing card drive is due to its team effort and collaboration, from the card makers to the logistics at Stamp-n-Storage, the papercrafters and the shippers.
“That's kind of why everyone's gotten excited about it,” she said, “because they're able to send a message to hospitals all over versus just one location.”
Main Street reconstruction work picked up this past week as crews began the second phase of the project. During this stage, Main Street is blocked off from Second Avenue North to First Avenue South, and intersections at First Avenue North and Washington Avenue are closed. Remember that rear accesses are still available to businesses that are open during construction and the pandemic.
Minnesota public school buildings will remain closed through the end of the school year in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Tim Walz announced Thursday.
Schools across the state have been closed since March 18 under the governor’s order, although most closed two days earlier.
Mandatory distance learning began March 30 and was set to run through at least April 30. Walz on Thursday extended the distance learning period through the end of the school year.
“As a former teacher, this is a heartbreaking decision,” Walz said.
Walz said distance learning has exacerbated racial inequities in education and highlighted limited access to broadband in rural Minnesota. He said he’d talk more on Friday about the state’s “expectations” around distance learning.
“We know there are students out there we can do better with,” he said.
Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker said her office intends to “recalibrate” distance learning for the rest of the school year while also exploring “what it could look like this summer to support students and support teaching and learning.”
As for next school year, Ricker indicated that schools will be expected to teach content that students missed this spring.
“It is an entire school-yearlong expectation that we will have to continue to come back to the needs of our students and making sure that what got on the cutting room floor this spring perhaps gets woven into what next fall looks like, and perhaps even the fall after that,” she said.
Denise Specht, president of the teachers union Education Minnesota, said the decision to keep schools closed is “heartbreaking, but the right call for student safety.”
“Distance learning is putting incredible stress on parents, students and educators. It’s widening disparities by wealth, race and geography,” Specht said in a news release. “I hope educators can use these last few weeks to wind down the academics while increasing attention on the mental and emotional health of our students. At the same time, we need to plan for addressing the inequities this crisis has made even worse.”
Minnesota is the 40th state to announce school buildings would not reopen this school year, according to the newspaper Education Week.
Under the governor’s orders, public schools continue to hand out free meals, and a number of schools are providing free child care for the children of employees in critical fields.
No instruction will be provided May 1 and 4, which teachers will use to prepare for several more weeks of distance learning.
Church of Cash, a Johnny Cash tribute band, was one of more than 12 bands performing at this year's RiverSong Music Festival in Hutchinson.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the RiverSong Music Festival Committee canceled the 2020 event scheduled for July 17-18 at Masonic/West River Park in Hutchinson.
According to an announcement of the cancellation, “The health and safety of our musicians, volunteers and community is our first priority. We could not in good conscience plan and deliver the RiverSong Festival you expect while ensuring everyone’s safety in the current conditions.”
The decision was also made to ensure RiverSong Festival’s financial viability in years to come.
“We cannot do this festival without our fans, volunteers, sponsors, local partners and artists,” the press release said. “We greatly appreciate your support and understanding and cannot wait to reconnect at the 2021 RiverSong Festival.”
All tickets purchased for this year’s festival will be valid for use at the 2021 festival.
For more information, visit riversongfestival.org or RiverSong’s Facebook page.
