Summer 2020 Hometown Messenger

News from the City of Shakopee | Summer 2020 Messenger Hometown

We're in this together Shakopee community unites during COVID-19 pandemic

CITY NEWSLETTER COVID-19 Response Mayor's Message City Calendar Elections 2020 Parks and Recreation Trail Map Park Development A Look Back

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When times get tough, how we respond says a lot about a community. Since Minnesota’s first COVID-19 diagnosis in early March, life is different. Schools and community gathering places are closed. Employees furloughed. Milestone celebrations missed. Everyone is experiencing a new normal as we adjust to social distancing. Yet, the Shakopee community has pulled together – supporting local businesses, providing necessities for the isolating and struggling, showing appreciation for front line workers and sending heartfelt messages of inspiration. “A strong community comes

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together when times are hard, and our residents are really caring for one another in useful and creative

ways,” said Mayor Bill Mars. For most people, this isn’t a

Cover Photos (Clockwise from top left): Health care workers at St. Francis Regional Medical Center thank members of the South Metro Jeep Enthusiasts for a jeep parade outside the emergency department April 11. Shakopee East Middle School paraprofessional Tammy Savina delivers meals to students during the school closures. Volunteers distribute food to residents at a drive-through food distribution event at New Creation Lutheran Church. Shakopee Police Department officers thank the community for its outpouring of support with a symbol of love using their squad cars in April.

surprise. Shakopee residents have pulled together before. After a fatal car accident involving Shakopee High School students in fall 2017, Kristine Pissah Robinson helped rally the community under the #ShakoStrong banner. She’s doing it again through a Shakopee COVID-19 Help Facebook group. "COVID-19 Help started with several people chatting together in a random Facebook chatroom ... [about] the pains of what we foresaw happening with the COVID-19 virus taking hold," Robinson said. "As people realized they could be a part of the solution, the Facebook page grew exponentially."

Volunteers help distribute food to community members in need through a drive-through food distribution event. More than 60 volunteers serve 600 families each week, thanks in part to donations from local non-profits and businesses.

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The group helps match people in need with community members willing to assist, such as running errands for homebound residents, setting up clothing exchanges and distributing thank you cards to elder care facilities, first responders and more. What started as porch drop-offs for groceries evolved into a weekly food distribution drive when the ShakoStrong non-profit partnered with Esperanza/New Creation Lutheran Church.

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