[Posted October 8, 2021]
Contributed by PositiveCharge!PDX
PC! PDX is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, open to everyone, with a mission to make a positive impact on a collective scale by doing good deeds, sharing good news, and building community. One of the ways we accomplish this is by creating opportunities for the public to participate in emergency kindness events like our Healthcare Heroes Project.
People of all ages in the greater Portland area are invited to contribute items to self-care packages for front-line health care workers:
Sew and donate soothing neck wraps
Create cards of thanks, encouragement and mindful relaxation
Donate lotions, essential oils, bath salts, candles . . . and chocolate! (store-bought, pre-packaged)
Purchase items to donate from our Amazon Wish List
Place your items in plastic bags and drop them at any of the locations below until Friday, November 5:
Cheers to You Party Goods, 8112 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy
Driftwood Coffee, 4604 SW Vermont St
Montavilla Sewing Center, 429 1st St, Lake Oswego
Bolt Fabric Boutique, 4636 NE 42nd Ave
Also, Peachtree Gifts in Multnomah Village has offered to host one of our Healthcare Heroes collection bins during First Friday on November 5.
This is a "just-add-you" project for all ages, and everyone can help. We have an easy weighted neck wrap pattern and a relaxation card template with instructions on our website, we have five amazing small businesses around town partnering with us where anyone can drop off donated items, and we even have an Amazon Wish List for those who would prefer letting their fingers do the giving. Check out our website for all the project details: www.PositiveChargePDX.org.
As is the case in probably every city throughout the world, our hard-working frontline workers caring for COVID patients in Portland's ERs, ICUs, and more are suffering from exhaustion, overwhelm, frustration, depression, and the lack of resources required to adequately deal with the burdens they’re facing during this long-lasting, horrendous pandemic. Joining the physicians and nurses in these all-important, life-saving teams are the respiratory therapists, maintenance workers, schedulers, lab and imaging technicians, and more. It’s no surprise they’re at their breaking point. After speaking with a number of local healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID pandemic, we learned that "self-care bags" with cards of encouragement would be greatly appreciated—and are really needed right now to boost morale.
The Healthcare Heroes Project will run through early November. During this time, we are currently collecting and assembling these donated items into "self-care bags" on an ongoing basis for hospital administrators to distribute to their staff in COVID-specific departments. Depending on what's donated, and when it arrives, we'll be able to assemble bags and deliver the soothing items on a rotational basis to ERs, ICUs, Labor & Delivery units, etc., getting these comforting items into the hands of our worn-out frontline workers as soon as possible.
We would love to be able to get a self-care bag in the hand of every frontline hospital worker in the city!
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