This moment reminds me of one I faced 19 years ago. My community was under attack. My staff of 24 had made it home safely, but we were on lockdown. I sat in my office alone thinking of the tidal wave of need surely headed our way. It was Sept. 11, 2001 and I was the executive director of the largest volunteer center in Washington, D.C. The Pentagon had been hit, and all businesses were shut down.
First, there was a communal lull, a kind of shock wave that ran through the whole community. It lasted a couple of days, and then everyone jumped into action. First responders were being overwhelmed with volunteer response, so we launched a “Sign Up, Don’t Show Up” campaign.
This was the day of answering one email at a time and we had 7,000! Two tech companies volunteered to help, and 24 hours later we were automated. In the end, we signed up 16,000 potential new volunteers—people from every state in the U.S. and six other countries—and connected 3,000 of them to support local responders at the Pentagon and organizations like the Red Cross and local food banks.
Now, today. Our beloved community here in Jefferson County is stunned. So many are home, practicing social distancing. We don’t know what will come next except that a tidal wave of need is heading our way. Last night, I wrote a list of the closed restaurants and the number of local jobs lost this week. I stopped when it exceeded 450. And this does not include the retail shops, the entertainment venues and others.
Then I started to calculate: How much rent is paid each month by 450 people? How much in utilities? Car payments, healthcare—the list of impacts goes on and on. A tidal wave, indeed.
But I am not afraid. What got my community through the response to Sept. 11 was not pre-existing plans or large pools of response money at the ready.
We had no plans and no money earmarked for such a crisis. What made us resilient then is exactly what will get Jefferson County through this crisis now: strong relationships, a generous spirit and a willingness to rise up and respond, each offering what they are able. Our beautiful community here in Jefferson County has these things in droves.
The stun is slowly wearing off, and folks are starting to act. Take this beautiful note I received from two of our most active donors who were the first to contribute to the COVID-19 Emergency Response General Fund with an amazing $5,000 donation: “We feel deeply connected and knowledgeable about our community—but in a situation like COVID-19, we cannot foresee the future. We simply don’t know what segments of the population will be hit the hardest or what organizations will be best positioned to respond. A discretionary emergency fund is essential. We trust Jefferson Community Foundation, and it makes sense to us that you need to be nimble in responding to the shifting terrain of COVID-19 locally. We want you to have speed and flexibility to make the decisions that need to be made. We are proud to support you.”
I cry every time I read this note because it tells me we will be OK.
Please step up with what you can now. Make a donation to the COVID-19 Emergency Response General Fund and we will all navigate this together as the days go by and the needs become more clear.
I will write to you regularly to keep you updated on what we are hearing and seeing in our community, how our local nonprofits are responding and how this COVID-19 Emergency Response General Fund is supporting the relationships, creativity and sheer hard work that will get us all through this.
Thank you and may you and yours remain healthy and safe.
Onward.
(Siobhan Canty is the president and CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation.)
