Cynthia Lummis

Conservative for U.S. Senate

COVID

Wyoming Coming Together During the COVID-19 Crisis

May 3, 2020

It comes as no surprise that during this time of crisis, we are seeing the very best of Wyoming people, businesses and communities. Wyoming, through its citizens, businesses, schools, churches, non-profits, and community organizations, has stepped up in unbelievably generous and creative ways to help friends and neighbors, our healthcare community and most vulnerable citizens.

I wanted to highlight just some of the many, many efforts taking place across Wyoming to support our local communities. The truth is, everyone in Wyoming is giving back right now. Private individuals, schools, local service organizations, non-profits, churches, statewide and local businesses are using their knowledge, resources, expertise, time and generosity to give back and support our State and her people. There are random acts of kindness happening nearly everywhere you turn. 

This list is by no means comprehensive! If you know of a business or group we should include, please email Nancy McCann at nancy@lummisforwyoming.com.

Statewide Efforts

Albany County

Big Horn County

  • Bairco Construction– Devin and Stacy Bair of Lovell provided monies for movie theater popcorn delivered to their community and the donations received went to the Hyatt theater while they were shut down.
  • Rocky Mountain High School and Lovell High School started printing medical masks with 3D printers, with the inspiration of a North Big Horn Hospital Facility Coordinator Nick Lewis.

Campbell County

  • Dr. Sara Hartsaw, a Gillette Surgeon, is a Navy Reservist, deployed and on-duty in New York. She is working on the frontlines at the Javits Convention Center.
  • Big Lost Meadery made hand gel.
  • Maurices donated $5,000 to the Campbell County Healthcare Foundation for the purchase of PPE for healthcare workers.
  • Dee Dee Petersen and a quilters group along with multiple individuals are making face masks for various groups.
  • Local coal companies donated masks to hospital
  • Kiwanis of Gillette donated $2000 & 2000 candy-filled Easter eggs toward school lunch deliveries.
  • McDonald’s donates a free meal to 1st responders who come thru drive thru.
  • Multiple restaurants donate food to the hospital & Legacy Care.
  • Dane Joslyn, community relations specialist at Campbell County Health, said that Gillette College’s Area 59 makerspace and the Campbell County School District are each planning to donate 400 ear savers to the hospital.
  • Area 59, Bowen Bell made gear (ear savers) using a 3D printer for the hospital and working on prototypes for face masks. 
  • Paintbrush Elementary School technology facilitator Jami Howe brought her school’s 3D printer home and also started printing ear savers for the hospital.
  • Bear’s Naturally Clean Dry Cleaners cleans the earsavers and masks for free before giving them to the hospital.
  • Brandon Cone is using 3D printers to assist local efforts to slow the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  • Vasilii Guma is another Gillette resident who is 3D printing products for medical staff. He runs two of his own 3D printers to create ear savers.
  • List of Donors of various items in Campbell County – this separate list contains over 100 names of folks and businesses that are helping during this crisis.

Carbon County

  • City of Rawlins staff have been helping seniors with grocery shopping and also delivering meals to the Senior Center.
  • Rawlins Recreation staff have been making comfort calls to seniors to check up on them.
  • Platte Valley Kiwanis established the “Platte Valley of Wyoming COVID-19 Assistance/Neighbors Helping Neighbors” program.

Crook County

Converse County

  • Glenrock Food Pantry is providing food to those in need.
  • The Christ Episcopal Church, through a grant, will be administering funds to those affected by the Covid-19 Crisis in their community.
  • A large group of Douglas residents are making masks and donating them to the Memorial Hospital of Converse County.

Fremont County

  • Maker Space 307 – 3d printing masks and face shields.
  • Whiskey Mountain Engraving – 3d Printing face shields and masks and extenders
  • The Middle Fork of Lander – Raised $2,500 and provided food for workers out of work
  • BOCES Region V – $10,000 towards providing internet services for students at Ft. Washakie School
  • Foster Friess – $5,000 towards internet service on Wind River Reservation
  • Anne Even has been sewing masks together and putting them on her porch every day free of charge for anyone. They just go there and take however many they need.
  • Brigette Kuegler has made masks for people working at the school.
  • Justus Jacobs (State Farm Agent) – $1,500 in gift cards from local places and distributing them to those in need. – Also provided lunch for 65 people at IHS clinics on WRR.
  • Lander facebook page can show you more information here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1090136464669238/

Goshen County

  • Goshen Help has a Covid-19 Food Pantry for those in need: https://www.goshenhelp.com
  • Lingle residents entertained its children by creating a drive-by scavenger hunt.

Hot Springs County

  • Hot Springs County High School science teacher, London Jenks, is working to help by creating the N95 substitute masks needed by healthcare workers using 3D printing.
  • Wyoming Whiskey has turned it’s still into an alcohol based hand cleaner and antiseptic source.

Johnson County

  • Johnson County School District is providing packaged lunches free of charge M-F for students K-12.
  • Bread of Life Food Pantry is offering hygiene and food products for those in need.  For those not able to drive, they offer a delivery service through the Johnson County Covid 19 Center.  They are also offering dog and cat food to those in need.  The pet food is donated by the Buffalo community http://breadoflifebuffalo.com
  • DJ’ Grocery and Reese & Rays Grocery are both offering delivery services for anyone in need.  They are both also filling grocery orders for folks to pick up curbside.
  • The Buffalo Prescription Shop Pharmacy is delivering prescriptions to help customers in their vehicles. http://www.buffaloprescriptionshop.com
  • Friends Feeding Friends handed out 132 bags of food to children the week of March 23rd, learn more here  https://jc-fff.org
  • Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies wyomingfoodbank.org   Buffalo – Upcoming Tuesday, May 19, 2020 – COVID-19 Response Pantry :Tuesday, June 16, 2020 – Tuesday, July 21, 2020 Location: Johnson County Fairgrounds – The Community Building Time:  Noon – 2 pm   Kaycee – Upcoming Friday, May 15, 2020 (*Please Note: This is a COVID-19 Response Pantry and Location Change) Location: The Red Wall Building, 210 Center St (East Doors), Kaycee, Wyoming  Time: 1:30pm – 2:00pm; Friday, June 19, 2020; Friday, July 17, 2020
  • Local churches are offering online services on Sundays
  • Johnson County Healthcare Center serving Kaycee and Buffalo for Covid-19 questions:  https://www.jchealthcare.com/covid-19-faq/                                         

Laramie County

  • Mickey Sanderson, a volunteer firefighter, is making masks for fellow firefighters and extended into making masks for others.
  • Barbara Boyer, owner of a local quilt shop and a group of quilters, are making masks to help in the pandemic.
  • Array partnered with the University of Wyoming using 3D printers to bring ideas for masks and maps to show coronavirus data visually.  Their director is also the lead guy that brought together a coalition of tech gurus – named the Wyoming Technology Coronavirus Coalition.
  • Stitches Acute Care Center, partnering with Array, has deployed a new telehealth mobile application  to provide medical assistance to those who can’t come into the clinic.
  • City of Cheyenne, the Forward Greater Cheyenne, the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce and United Way, all who have teamed to create the Greater Cheyenne COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund, which will provide financial assistance to residents facing hardships.
  • ECA – Engineering and Consulting Alliance has assigned staff to devote their time to making masks for the people in the community that are unable to purchase one.

Lincoln County

Natrona County

  • Linda Wicklund – Casper Cabs, provides free rides to seniors to grocery stores  on Monday through Friday. The company also picks up prescriptions for seniors too.
  • Natrona County Library has donated and distributed books and other reading materials to children in coordination with the meal distribution program of the school districts and to seniors through Meals on Wheels.

Niobrara County

  • Rawhide Drug, Register Cliff Pharmacy and Vandel Drug have offered curbside service to customers and provided some at-home deliveries to those that can’t get out.
  • Shirley Zumbrunnen, Shirley Wadkins and Melodie, Gracie, Emily and Levi) are making masks which are not only sent to health care folks and first responders in Wyoming, but also sent to folks in Arizona and Wisconsin.
  • Pizza Place in Lusk (owned by Missy and Brad Wagner) is making loaves of bread and distributing to their community free of charge.
  • Niobrara County Library – Debbie Surman is working overtime to make library materials available to folks – offering delivery and pick up.

Platte County

Park County

  • Nick Piazza, a businessman, gave a donation of $50,000 to Cody Regional Health for the purchase of 4 ventilators.
  • Anonymous Donor, provided toilet paper to local residents in Powell, by leaving it at their doorsteps. Paper towels are also being left in people’s cars.
  • Rhiannon Morlan, founder of Love Thy Neighbor (a Facebook group of local residents located here: Love Thy Neighbor — Powell ), coordinates the delivery of meals to Powell folks in need of a helping hand and runs a raffle to generate funds for the community.
  • Several residents in Cody are working to provide the Cody healthcare responders by sewing cloth masks and now are working in coordination with the Home-Made Mask Project, led by Marla Isbell.

Sheridan County

  • Koltiska Distillery in Sheridan is making hand sanitizer
  • Pam Moore, resident of Sheridan is sewing masks for health care workers, using a pattern supplied by the Deaconess health care system.

Sweetwater County

  • Coal Train Coffee, Denise who is the owner and Bonnie Cannon, donated cups of coffee over the last few weeks to help first responders  – see posts

https://www.facebook.com/745994768939674/posts/1471547876384356/?d=n

  • Wyoming churches of all faiths are helping to mitigate this crisis – example: the Church of the Holy Communion in Rock Springs has identified 5 local non-profits  that they are going to help others:  Climb Wyoming, the local food bank, the Child Development Center, Family Court, and the Family Resource Center.
  • Wyoming’s Episcopal Churches committed $1 million in support of Wyoming relief efforts for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic, see article here: https://cowboystatedaily.com/2020/03/25/episcopal-diocese-of-wyoming-commits-1m-to-support-coronavirus-relief/
  • “Cruising the drag” held a car event to generate funds for the hospital in Rock Springs
  • Zach Pendleton used his 3D printer to make PPE to Memorial Hospital in Rock Springs
  • Genesis Alkali pledged a $5,000 donation to support Covid-19 efforts at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County.
  • Infinity Power and Controls and WyoRadio through their owners, Bruce and Carla Pivic donated $2,000 to the hospital.

Sublette County

  • Hope Choice provided free diapers, wipes, and formula to the community from donations made by United Way of Southwest Wyoming.
  • Yellowberry Company and Megan Grassell donated 250 masks to Sublette County Unified Fire response group. www.yellowberrycompany.com
  • Cowboy Country Distilling converted their operation to make hand sanitizer.
  • Ultra Resources provided 6 Air Purifiers for the 2 Clinics (Big Piney & Pinedale), $4,000 to the Pinedale Food Basket, $4,000 to the Big Piney Food Closet, and $2,000 to the LaBarge Food program
  • Ridley’s provided monetary donations for food and early shopping for Seniors.
  • Burneys (Grocery in Big Piney):  Monetary donations and early shopping for Seniors
  • Local restaurants are providing curbside delivery and free home delivery. 
  • Many locals (people and businesses) have been giving food, masks, etc. to First Responders. Lots of Thank You signs around town!
  • Volunteers: The county has many volunteers sewing masks and gowns, making wellness calls to those sheltering at home, shopping and delivering for those sheltering at home, and people just doing
  • Random acts of kindness (firewood, shoveling snow when it was, walking and feeding pets, helping with technology, etc.)
  • Schools are providing breakfast and lunch to students.
  • Sublette County COVID-19 Response Team:  There are over 90 people on this team with many serving voluntarily. 
  • Enviremedial Services, Inc., a business in Pinedale, is working with the Army Corp of Engineers, to build self-contained and portable hospital rooms that are off-grid  and solar-powered.

Teton County

  • Roadhouse Brewing Co. with help from Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr and Detective Dave Hodges delivered $45,000 worth of KN95 (11,000 masks to Teton County Public Health, St. Johns and Jackson Hole Fire/EMS.
  • Pet Place Plus is providing free dog food to pet owners experiencing tough times during the COVID-19 shutdown.
  • The Hole Quarantine was a spontaneously organized program where people donate money and meals are purchased from local restaurants (to support them) and donated to workers at the hospital, emergency workers, etc. 
  • JHfoodhelp.com – Web Site by Hole Food Rescue & Teton County Health Dept showing places providing food, such as: Fine Dining Restaurant Group Quarantine Cuisine – food delivered regardless of ability to pay, Breakfast & Lunch pick up for anyone under 18yrs of age at the High School; Jackson Cupboard (food pantry); Good Samaritan Mission (food pantry); Senior Center (meal pick up); Presbyterian Church (meal pick up)
  • Cafe Genevieve – Pay It Forward  asks customers to add $15 to bill and they donate meals to those in need
  • The Community Foundation of Jackson Hole so far raised more than 2.5 million for relief. 
  • One 22 initiated a $2M campaign to raise funds for individuals needing help with rent and other living expenses.  They have so far distributed nearly $1M.
  • Corey Mulligan started an organization called We Are Jackson Hole, who organized hand sanitizer to be produced by Grand Teton Distillery – they distribute all over town, in front of grocers, etc He also visits businesses to teach them best practices for hand washing, distancing, sanitation, etc. They have bi-lingual signs and education also.
  • Iksplor, a merino wool children’s clothing manufacturer owned by two young Jackson women, switched their production over to masks, which they are selling for $5 and donating to those in need.
  • Jackson Hole Community Mask Project is now under the auspices of St. John’s Health Foundation.  It was a lot of people and organizations, like the Jackson Hole Quilt Guild, who were making masks for the hospital workers.  Now it has expanded to providing masks throughout the community.
  • Local groups like Off Square Theatre Company are doing free online workshops.  Local exercise studios, like VimStrong, are offering free online classes and posting workouts on YouTube.

Uinta County

  • Ichiban Steakhouse – A local restaurant is offering Free rice and noodles and a drink for elderly or those in need for 2 hours each day.
  • AutoFarm Castle Rock Chevrolet and Ichiban Steakhouse team up to provide food to the community of Evanston.
  • Jody’s Diner and Suds Brothers Brewery in partnership with AutoFarm Castle Rock Chevrolet provided meals to first responders and medical personnel at Evanston Regional Hospital.

Washakie County

  • Zoll Medical is working in Wyoming to provide Transport Ventilators and Defibs in the Bighorn Basin.
  • Brandon Yule is using his 3D printer to make masks for healthcare workers and the county law enforcement officers.

Weston County

  • Lexie and James Stith, teachers from Newcastle, Wyoming are making 3D masks for healthcare workers, first responders and others, donations are needed to continue the project, see here: Go Fund Me
  • Weston Health County Health Services provides a Covid-19 help page here: http://wchs-wy.org/COVID-19/