People of different ages and different walks of life gathered by St. Joseph’s Hospital Thursday night. At 7 p.m., over a dozen vehicles put their hazard lights on and started slowly circulating around the parking lot, led by Estevan Police Service vehicles.
This flash mob was organized by a community member to thank the health care workers for everything they do during these times.
“At this time, we all have got to come together and support each other! Say thanks to every essential worker you encounter,” said Trisha English, who organized the flash mob, in her original Facebook post that was published March 31.
English said that the support she received from the post was overwhelming and she shed some tears a few times during the event.
“I can’t believe that so much support came from just a Facebook post,” said English. “I just want to shout out to everybody that showed up, everybody that has shown their support to me and to all the healthcare workers, frontliners and all essential service workers … And a big shot-out to the Estevan police for helping. It really made me happy.”
Police officers participating in the flash mob helped to organize people who came to show their appreciation. Estevan Police Chief Paul Ladouceur said they know what it takes to be at the frontlines, and for them it was important to be there and recognize others.
“People who organized it asked us if we wanted to participate, and we certainly were happy to do that … There is a huge strain on these frontline workers during these times. And it’s important to recognize that these are people that are dealing directly with this disease … It just exemplifies the fact that there are so many heroes through this whole crisis,” said Ladouceur.
Police vehicles put their lights on and also quickly turned the sirens on a couple of times. And while it made the activity a bit brighter, since the sirens might have alarmed some of the hospital residents, Ladouceur clarified that they only went on due to miscommunication and apologized for the mistake.
During the 15-minute flash mob, all participants stayed in their vehicles to ensure that all health safety measures were in place.
After the event, a few people messaged English to thank her for the activity she organized and for all the support.
“What I can only reply to that is ‘No, thank you!’ All I did was post a post on Facebook and show up, show my support there to the ones that are frontlining this,” said English.
Staff at the hospital was also grateful for the support coming from the community.
“I know the staff were very excited about it. It was a really nice salute to our staff. It just shows that the community, Estevan is very strong. And people just want to make sure that everyone feels supported and safe. And that’s all that matters at the end of the day,” said Breanne Van De Woestyne, who is the executive director of the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation.
English is now waiting to get a little bit more feedback before they organize another appreciation activity that she hopes will be even better.
“I took some notes down, just to make it a little bit more organized. And I want maybe not do it in two days, maybe have five days,” said English. “If anybody has any ideas, they can reach me on social media, just search my name and send me a message if you have any idea or you want to help organize the next one.”
English thought that in the days to come she may invite the community to join her in showing appreciation to grocery store workers at particular stores or even circulating around town. She also would want to show the gratitude and support to the Estevan drugstores, dollar stores and all essential service workers. And in the meantime, she suggested ensuring that the community members show gratitude on a daily basis.
“Just make sure that if you go to a grocery store, any worker that you see there, you say thank you to them,” said English. “If we didn’t have these frontliners and essential workers, there is no way that we would be able to get through this right now. And if they are doing their part to keep us running, we need to do our part too and follow the rules: social distance yourself; only go to the store when you need it; if you can, do the online ordering and delivery. That’s the only way this is going to end … So if we can do our part to help too, then I think we’ll be back to normal sooner than later.”
She plans on working closely with the EPS for the next time to ensure everything goes smoothly. Ladouceur pointed out that they will be happy to participate and show their support and gratitude to essential workers.
“Everybody from our truck drivers to the people working in grocery stores, there are so many people doing so much to people, just kind gestures like picking up groceries for people that are quarantined,” said Ladouceur. “This is about coming together and dealing with this crisis together.”
In the meantime, the EPS will do their part in keeping the community safe and healthy in all possible ways. Besides many other things, they recently put messages on the back of police vehicles, reminding people about all safety recommendations and also expressing gratitude to essential workers.
English asked that if people plan on doing something similar to ensure that they announce it publicly, so she could join others.
Make sure to follow the Mercury on social media to stay up to date on the new flash mobs of gratitude in Estevan.
