GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The Clay County Senior Adult Advocacy Council started an hours-long vehicle parade May 8 to show their appreciation for nurses in nursing homes, hospice facilities and …
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GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The Clay County Senior Adult Advocacy Council started an hours-long vehicle parade May 8 to show their appreciation for nurses in nursing homes, hospice facilities and hospitals all around the county.
Ernie Cohen, a member of the advocacy council and front man for Clay Behavioral Health Center and Kids First of Florida, said he and the other council members worked to bring this idea to life. More than 20 vehicles filled with signs of kind words, horns and more left the Green Cove Springs Ace Hardware parking lot for a parade through the county.
“It’s national nurses’ week and with the times, we decided that we wanted to show our nurses here in Clay County that their work is important and appreciated,” Cohen said.
The advocacy council’s secretary, Heidi Forsythe, came up with the idea. For her, this vehicle parade was the best way to show appreciation for nurses during a global pandemic. She said doctors get recognized all of the time while nurses are less seen when it comes to frontline efforts against the coronavirus. Nurse are the ones seeing each patient before the doctor though, she said.
Forsythe said nurses go into work and they don’t get to leave at the end of their scheduled shift.
“Right now, their entire life is work,” Forysthe said. “Their work is critical and they’re working around the clock. They’re also highly at-risk just because of who they’re around so they’re not as free off-the-clock as others might be. They deserve praise right now and that’s what we’re doing here today.”
The CCSAAC has been doing these kinds of things for 20 years in Clay County as a 501(c)(3). Cohen said they often fundraise to provide services to local senior citizens that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford or do themselves. This includes things like repaving a portion of their sidewalk, fixing shingles on their roof and more.
Cohen said the parade not only gives them a chance to show appreciation for local nurses throughout the county, but to give senior adults in nursing homes and hospice facilities something to appreciate.
The started in Green Cove Springs before going to facilities in Fleming Island, Orange Park and Middleburg. The parade made 23 stops throughout the county and consisted of about 25 to 30 vehicles that dropped in and out along the way.
“It’s important to show them that we care and that their work is appreciated,” Forsythe said. “That’s what this is about today.”