A little over six weeks ago, Kathleen Schell and Justin Healy reached out to me with an idea. They presented a plan that would help support Beebe and local restaurants during this pandemic while at the same time give everyone a chance to make a difference. A few days later, many of the local restaurant owners gathered six feet apart on the back patio at the Beebe Medical Foundation and met with Dr. David Tam and me. We shared ideas, strategies and plans to “Crush Corona.” Our goal was clear: to give every Beebe Team Member a $25 gift card to a local restaurant, a way for them to get a meal given by donors. The goal was 3,000 individual cards.
In three short weeks, we met that goal through a surge of generosity from local restaurants, businesses, residents, part-time residents and countless organizations. Beebe Medical Foundation felt it was important to keep the momentum going and to “pay it forward.” We then decided to share a gift card with each first responder in Sussex County (fire, police, EMS, etc.). Within two weeks, we met that goal. Before we ended the Crush Corona Challenge, we also gave a gift card to all those working in our Skilled Nursing Facilities and the teams at our local Boys & Girls Clubs.
Now, 4,700 cards later, we have shared the support of the community with so many while injecting over $117,500 in purchases to local restaurants! A special thank you to Amy Popovich, event coordinator at the Beebe Medical Foundation, for overseeing the collection and distribution of this inspirational program.
We might not have crushed the coronavirus permanently, but we sure did spread a lot of love and joy in a good contagious way to our wonderful community! Thank you to all who donated and made this grassroots challenge such a tremendous success! Check out the Facebook Page #CrushCorona and see the many faces that shared a moment of happiness giving and receiving during a pandemic!
Stay safe and stay well,
Thomas J. Protack
president
Beebe Medical Foundation