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Mayor: ‘We are made of sterner stuff’ EDITORIAL

In a time when uncertainty can lead to worry and fear, Mayor Stephen Wukela offered a muchneeded message of assurance to the people of Florence during last week’s city council meeting.

“We should not allow our own fear of danger to create harm where there was none,” urged Wukela during the council meeting streamed live on YouTube. “This is certainly an anxious and uncertain time. To be sure the spread of COVID-19 presents a danger to public health, particularly to the vulnerable among us.”

Wukela, who announced last year that he will not run for a fourth term in November, said the city is taking the necessary precautions to ensure the health safety of its residents.”

“Our city is strong and resilient,” said Wukela. “Nature has presented us with a challenge, but we are made of sterner stuff. We can and will survive this crisis.”

There is no question the present COVID-19 pandemic has left our nation, our state, and our city on edge. We need strong words and a positive message from leadership to keep us grounded so that we can make our way through a most difficult time.

We applaud the city for the decisions it has made during recent weeks and we thank Mayor Wukela for his encouraging words. l l l

Members of the Florence One Schools Board of Trustees let its employees know they are appreciated in a big way during its monthly meeting last week.

The board unanimously approved a one-time $1,000 bonus for each of its 2,433 full-time employees. The employees will receive their bonus checks along with their final paycheck for the month of April.

“We need to show appreciation to our staff,” said Superintendent Richard O’Malley. “Everyone chipping in to make this work.”

The superintendent added that the bonus is important because teachers, administrators, food service workers, bus drivers and assistants have worked hard and have put the community and students first during the pandemic.

It’s one thing to say you appreciate exceptional efforts, but it’s even better if you can show your appreciation. The F1S Board of Trustees backed up its words with a much-needed show of gratitude and support to its employees.

We think it’s an example that school boards across the state and nation need to emulate.

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Huge kudos to McCall Farms of Effingham for donating one million servings of canned food to Harvest Hope of the Pee Dee.

“In these difficult times, we will meet the challenge of keeping store shelves stocked with quality, farm-fresh canned foods that American consumers have come to expect,” said McCall Farms Chief Operating Officer Allen Mize.

It is imperative that we as individuals and as a community come together during times of crisis. Those who can need to step up and offer what they can to help those who cannot.

Well done, McCall Farms.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2020 myflorencetoday.com PAGE 4 Fight against cancer goes virtual

This Saturday would have been a big night at Freedom Florence Recreation Complex. There would have been food, fun, games, entertainment, luminaries, a survivor’s walk, and hundreds of supporters completing laps in memory or in honor of cancer victims or survivors.

No, the annual Relay for Life of Florence County and similar events around the nation planned for Saturday will not take place due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. But just like the brave and valiant individuals recognized during the events, organizers are not about to give up the fight against cancer.

The national Relay for Life organization will hold Relay USA, a virtual experience Saturday on the national Relay For Life Facebook page.

“Relay participants and

Bob Sloan

Editor

even those not registered are invited to join this celebration,” organizers stated in a post last week. “Relay USA will feature the traditional elements – opening ceremony, survivor lap, caregiver recognition, and a luminaria ceremony – in an all-virtual experience. While COVID-19 has brought a level of uncertainty to events across the nation, Relay USA is our opportunity to stand together even when we are apart.”

The Relay USA event will begin at 4 p.m. Visit www.facebook.com/RelayForLife/ for more information.

According to Community Development Director Chinel Boateng, the Florence County chapter of Relay for Life is planning a “Spirit Week” filled with virtual activities April 27 through May 2.

On Monday, a Showcase the Sponsors will take place where sponsor track signs will be displayed in yards around Florence County. Photos of the signs will be posted on the organizations’ Facebook page, www.facebook.comRFLflorencecountysc.

On Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. a Heroes of Hope event will take place. Supporters are being asked to create a video, a livestream post, or a written post and photo highlighting the story of cancer survivors or caregivers and posting it to the organizations’ Facebook page.

On Saturday, organizers are encouraging supporters to walk where they are anytime from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. A Lawnminaria ceremony will take place from 8 to 9 p.m. Supporters will take the bags and candles representing the honorees they are responsible for and light them in their own yards. They are encouraged to video the scene and post it to the organizations’ Facebook page.

“We cannot allow the virus to stop our battle against cancer,” said Boateng. “The fight must go on. I know this is a difficult time, but there are still many people out there who are willing to support cancer research to help end this horrible disease.”

Boateng said that as soon as the virus has passed and things begin to return to normal, a live event would be scheduled

See SLOAN, Page 5

It’s not easy, but we will find a way

Social distancing is tough for most of us. We love gathering in ballgames, movies, theatres, restaurants, churches and with family. Seeing our neighbors and friends in the local grocery or chatting at the post office is a normalcy of life, was a normalcy of life. The new normal is shocking. Now we have to dodge people in the grocery store and be six feet apart in the post office all while wearing a mask. We don’t even know if our neighbor is in the grocery store or the post office. We can hardly recognize our neighbor walking by each other in the same subdivision if we are wearing our masks. Masks? Can you believe this?

In rural East Kentucky our family didn’t go to restaurants because very few were around. We didn’t

Glenn Mollette

Guest Columnist

have a movie theatre. Entertainers did not come to our area so there weren’t any shows to attend. We did go to school events, lots of school ballgames and our families gathered periodically. We grew up around family and when the family got together there would be 100 or more people. We went to church a lot. People got together to play music, play ball or just talk on the front porch. People shook hands occasionally but we saw the same people all the time so there was never a feeling that we had to shake hands much. There really wasn’t a lot to do but we always found a way to enjoy life.

We raised a lot of our food. My mom and dad canned and froze enough food to feed a family of seven. We had livestock. We occasionally butchered a hog and occasionally a cow. For a little while we had chickens. We had a huge strawberry patch once. My grandfather ran a grocery store across the creek from where we lived. If we needed something from a store, we bought it from him and there was rarely more than ever one or two other people in the store so we were always socially distant. Walmarts did not exist and there were no Amazon or Target deliveries. My grandpa did occasionally deliver groceries in his old truck. It wasn’t that

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Facilities collaborating to confront COVID-19

To the editor,

As we face the tremendous challenge of confronting COVID-19 both professionally and personally, we are grateful for the extraordinary service and responsiveness on behalf of our community to all health facilities caring for patients during this difficult time. This unprecedented national pandemic requires our dedication and focus. All our medical teams and clinical personnel throughout the region, at all our McLeod, MUSC Health, Hope Health, Lake City hospitals and emergency responders are ambassadors in this fight against COVID-19.

Local collaboration between health providers, Florence City and County, school districts, emergency services, the South Carolina Hospital Association, DHEC and area business and industries has helped produce the best outcomes possible in this evolving and intense situation.

We have held weekly calls between our hospitals with medical teams, nurses and executives as well as community leaders. Discussions have included preparations on additional capacity of cases of Covid19, mutual Covid-19 mitigation precautions such as visitation policies and best practices, hospital preparedness on supplies and testing at state, local and hospital levels.

This health care crisis is shared and unique only in its scope, but not in its need to bring minds and hearts together in service to our fellow man. The safety of our patients, staff and citizens has been paramount and we have all be led by one goal: to carry out our mission to save lives in a safe way.

We are deeply grateful for examples of cooperation, compassion and courage in the ongoing response to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Rob Colones President, CEO

McLeod Health Vance Reynolds CEO MUSC Health - Florence Donna Isgett COO, McLeod Health Dr. Dale Lusk CMO, McLeod Health

Dr. Rami Zebian CMO MUSC Health - Florence Will McLeod

Administrator McLeod Regional

Medical Center

Matthew J.

Severance

Chief Systems Development and Affiliations Officer MUSC - Florence bad, everybody seemed to find a way. We didn’t have the Internet or even a telephone until I was nine.

Sometimes we would sit in grandma and grandpa’s big cane bottom chairs in the grocery store and talk while drinking a RC cola and eating a moon pie. Now, that was living it up. We always found a way to enjoy life.

Back in the day, when we needed people we could simply walk down the road and there were always people out that we could say howdy to. It wasn’t that hard to find a way to be sociable.

Right now, millions of people are hurting everywhere. We’ll figure this out and we’ll find a way.

Contact Glenn Mollette at gmollette@aol.com.

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EDITOR Bob Sloan editor@florencenewsjournal.com BOOKKEEPER Catherine Rogers accounting@florencenewsjournal.com COMPOSITION Beth Streett production@florencenewsjournal.com

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