When you made New Year Resolutions or goals for 2020, did you have even the slightest inkling that the world would unravel like this? Here are a couple stories of note related to how local businesses are responding to the crisis. I will try to collect more as things unfold.
Duluth Distillery Turns Spirits Into Sanitizer
According to the New Testament, when Jesus began his earthly ministry his first recorded miracle took place at a wedding where he famously turned water into wine. I say famously because this act has been referenced by many over the years as a tacit acknowledgement that drinking spirits is an acceptable lifestyle choice.
This week, a different kind of "miracle" took place at Duluth's Vikre Distillery. The cocktail room was closed as was the restaurant, yet people keep coming in, not for gin but for hand sanitizer. No, it is not really a miracle--turning spirits into sanitizer--but yes they're recognizing a need right now and stepping up to fill it.
Read the full story here.
Indigenous First Art & Gift Shop
There are all kinds of jobs closing right now as the nation hunkers down. Restaurants, bars and other gathering places are taking a hit. Many artists and craftspeople rely on special events where they sell their wares that are also closing, thereby presenting challenges for this segment of the population.
This week I received an email from Michelle LeBeau, Executive Director of our American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO), detailing their efforts to develop strategies to fulfill their multi-pronged mission that involves housing and helping people with basic needs. In the letter she shared this message:
Jazmin Wong (our gift shop coordinator), who was concerned about the gift shop closing, and how that would impact the artists we serve, decided to launch a website she has been working on for several months. It launched tonight at 5PM.
Please share our new online galleries with others, this might just ensure the survival of the gift shop, and the work of dozens of Indigenous Artists and Food Producers, during these difficult times!
Here's the link: https://www.indigenousfirst.org/
Freelancer Resources
This isn't a local Duluth story, but something for freelancers everywhere. Hard times lead to innovation and resourcefulness. They also motivate us to look out for one another, to share insights on how we can help others get by, find a way through.
I saw this one on The Drum, a marketing-themed eNewsletter: A freelancer's guide to the coronavirus downturn: jobs, resources and support networks
20 Pinterest Pins to Help You Cope with the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
I saw an article by Sarah Butterfield on Medium and followed the link to her website, which had this link to a Pinterest page offering advice and words of comfort for those feeling weighed down by it all. Butterfield is a mom, so some of these Pins are about activities to help your children burn off energy during lockdown.
https://www.pinterest.com/sarahkbutterfield/coping-with-the-coronavirus-covid-19/
Duluth Distillery Turns Spirits Into Sanitizer
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| Duluth is no longer flyover country. |
This week, a different kind of "miracle" took place at Duluth's Vikre Distillery. The cocktail room was closed as was the restaurant, yet people keep coming in, not for gin but for hand sanitizer. No, it is not really a miracle--turning spirits into sanitizer--but yes they're recognizing a need right now and stepping up to fill it.
Read the full story here.
Indigenous First Art & Gift Shop
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| Leah Yellowbird and many other indigenous artists are represented at AICHO and can be found online at the new website. |
This week I received an email from Michelle LeBeau, Executive Director of our American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO), detailing their efforts to develop strategies to fulfill their multi-pronged mission that involves housing and helping people with basic needs. In the letter she shared this message:
Jazmin Wong (our gift shop coordinator), who was concerned about the gift shop closing, and how that would impact the artists we serve, decided to launch a website she has been working on for several months. It launched tonight at 5PM.
Please share our new online galleries with others, this might just ensure the survival of the gift shop, and the work of dozens of Indigenous Artists and Food Producers, during these difficult times!
Here's the link: https://www.indigenousfirst.org/
Freelancer Resources
This isn't a local Duluth story, but something for freelancers everywhere. Hard times lead to innovation and resourcefulness. They also motivate us to look out for one another, to share insights on how we can help others get by, find a way through.
I saw this one on The Drum, a marketing-themed eNewsletter: A freelancer's guide to the coronavirus downturn: jobs, resources and support networks
20 Pinterest Pins to Help You Cope with the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
I saw an article by Sarah Butterfield on Medium and followed the link to her website, which had this link to a Pinterest page offering advice and words of comfort for those feeling weighed down by it all. Butterfield is a mom, so some of these Pins are about activities to help your children burn off energy during lockdown.
https://www.pinterest.com/sarahkbutterfield/coping-with-the-coronavirus-covid-19/
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It says that people are streaming in to get the sanitizer, and that they are out delivering it, and even the Mayor stopped in!
ReplyDeleteAnd a picture of two people working right next to each other.
And evidently MPR was there was their cameras.
I thought people were supposed to stay at home and keep a distance from other people of at least 6 feet to ward off the virus. ??
Not required to stay home yet... but minimize contact and max of 10 I think. I dunno.
ReplyDeleteI read that Bangkok is on partial lockdown, so many thousands of foreign and Thai workers are all returning to their home countries, or provinces in Thailand.
ReplyDeleteI guess the idea is to limit the spread of the disease.