Landon Hughes, a student at St. Joseph Catholic School, wanted to do something to show his appreciation to those on the front lines in the community who are fighting COVID-19.
“I was tired of just sitting at home and thinking about how much appreciation I had for them. I wanted to actually do something about,” Hughes said.
Hughes, along with fellow members of the Progressive Art & Civic Club (PACC), were able to show their thanks Monday to these health workers Monday in front of the Delta Regional Medical Center. Each club member presented a health care worker with a poster. These posters had pictures and encouraging words of thanks emblazoned on them.
Myesha Nealon, for example, presented her poster to registered nurse Wanda Johnson. Nealon drew a picture of a nurse on her poster, and then wrote the words, “Thank you for being a FRONTLINE WARRIOR. Your services are truly appreciated.”
The health care workers at the Delta Regional Medical Center then had their pictures taken with a teenage and their poster. The appreciation during the event went both ways.
“These posters are going to be hung up all over our hospital, and they are going to lift the spirits of both our staff and our patients,” DRMC Community Development Manager Kim Dowdy told the young club members. “We cannot thank these young people enough for what they have done.”
The Progressive Art & Civic Club is an affiliate of the National Association of Colored Women’s Club and and Youth Affiliates and was organized in Greenville in 1957.
PACC sponsors six youth groups and works with them for 10 months providing community service, social activities, character building and scholastic goal setting. These groups are the Esquire Boys, the Junior Esquires, the Junior Girls, the Teenette Girls, the Junior girls, and the Little Girls.
The president of the club is Bettye Farmer. The club’s motto is “Lifting as we Climb.” It is the club’s goal to make sure that the motto is carried out within the Greenville community.
“This project was the youth’s way of saying, “Thank You” to all First Responders,” said Leonia Dorsey, an advisor for the Teenettes. “We are thanking them because they are working to save lives and keeping our community safe.”
