by Ace Parsi
It has long been demonstrated that times of crisis, as we are experiencing amidst the present pandemic, bring about extremes of behavior. While some look inward and think only of their own well-being, others broaden their sense of connection and caring for their neighbors and communities. The way we go as a community reflects a collective set of individual choices by each and every one of us. During the last several weeks we have seen more and more people make a positive choice, a choice to check in and a choice to roll up our sleeves and show we care.
Whether it’s health care workers going the extra mile to set anxious patients at ease, teachers who stay up later to coordinate meals for their students, or grocery store workers who do often thankless jobs to keep our community running, we have had plenty of reason to smile and hope within our community. Work does much more than pay the bills — the active choices to show compassion made by workers in a whole variety of fields have kept our community strong throughout the pandemic.
Mon County Compassion at Work and The Dominion Post want to find those individuals and honor them each week. We are asking for your help to do that. We are looking for individuals who meet three criteria:
They embody values of compassion (such as empathy, care, sensitivity, warmth, tolerance, kindness, and/or humanity) in responding to the present COVID-19 pandemic;
Recognizing that some jobs have the above values built into them, we are looking for individuals who are demonstrably going above and beyond the specific definition of executing their job, as measured by the norms of their profession and as compared to peers who might do similar work;
They demonstrate behavior that has a positive impact on their colleagues, those they serve, and/or the broader community.
There are two ways for you, your customers, and employees to nominate individuals for recognition. You can either tag them on Facebook each Monday with the #MONPayItForwardMondays and the handles,
@Dominionpostwv and @MonCountyCompassionatWork with why you’re nominating the individuals.
Ace Parsi is the team coordinator for Mon County Compassion at Work.
