An outpouring of community solidarity is sweeping its way through Moose Jaw as residents display their hearts to the public — paper hearts, that is.
Across the city, windows have been filling up with heart-shaped decorations featuring messages of love and support to lift spirits in the community as more people begin to self-isolate.
The new trend stems from a Facebook group called Sharing Our Hearts of Moose Jaw, created by admins Jody Chell and Jody Oakes a few days ago.
“I saw that somebody had done this in B.C. and I just thought it was something really awesome,” said Oakes. “This was a way that everyone, from the smallest little children to our seniors, they could contribute. Because everybody can make a heart.”
The idea invited people to display a heart of some kind on their window, for anyone walking or driving by to see and recognize as a symbol of support, as an easy way to connect with neighbours while maintaining recommended social distance measures.
“Our hope is that it would just help brighten people's day,” said Oakes. “We know that it's a really difficult time for people, and people don't always know what to do, but they want to help.”
It was also meant as a demonstration of solidarity for those front-line workers still providing needed services for the community — health-care workers, emergency services workers, grocery store employees, teachers, and more.
“We wanted to do it for everybody, but especially for the (frontline staff) who are working so hard to keep us safe,” said Oakes. “So many of those people deserve the hugest hugs, right, and we can't hug them all. So we thought if we created these hearts and people hung them up, (then), hopefully, they'll see a heart in the window and know that we're thankful for them.”
It’s clearly a sentiment that Moose Jaw can get behind, as the hearts aren’t the only way that residents are showing their appreciation this week.
Chalk messages offering words of encouragement have also been popping up all over the city, as part of a national idea called Chalk Your Walk.
Residents have written thank you’s and messages of appreciation on their own sidewalks as well as outside of places such as Crescent Park Retirement Villa and the SEIU-West office.
There have also been hearts hand-delivered to local care homes and the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital, while others displayed in homes offer messages of gratitude to certain professions.
The hearts and chalk messages have been spotted in neighbourhoods all around the city, and the Facebook group boasts over 2,000 members and 15,000 posts and comments so far.
“It's just awesome to see and I just feel so happy for everybody that we can, all of us, feel like we can do something,” said Oakes.
Oakes is pleased to see the overwhelming response to the Facebook idea, but it doesn’t surprise her too much as she’s familiar with Moose Jaw.
“I just think it truly shows what Moose Jaw is, we're just that kind of community,” said Oakes. “Moose Jaw literally puts their hearts into stuff, and that's what they’ve done. They’ve literally put their hearts into this, not just hanging in their windows, but in their hearts and that’s amazing.”
The initiative itself was meant to remind the community that they’re not alone, and sharing photos on social media is a great way for everyone to see the hearts, including those who may be self-isolated in their homes or needing a quick pick-me-up.
“[This way,] people can go back and look at those, maybe a week from now when they’re just sitting home,” said Oakes. “People can hopefully pop on that page for two seconds and just see all these hearts. Everybody's hearts, all over the whole city.”
The Facebook group is staying open for business, so to speak, for the time being. Oakes encourages anyone to join and see the hearts, and to continue creating and sharing their own hearts with the community.
