Photo By Ana Henderson | Public Affairs Administrative Officer Casey Garcia wanted to help but is not very...... read more read more
Subscribe
Employees of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) serve the nation daily by being part of a developmental test facility that works to ensure the equipment the Warfighter receives is the best of its kind.
Now, during the COVID-19 crisis they have stepped up in many different ways to help the Yuma Community.
Technical Writer Kassi Morningstar noticed that local grocery stores had ran out of eggs so she stepped up to help. "I have given away a ton of eggs to my neighbors and co-workers when there were no eggs in the stores. I have 16 laying hens that produce about a dozen eggs a day. I was able to just give fresh eggs to the people I knew were looking or needed them. Some people would knock on the door and ask if we would sell them some, but I just wanted to help. A few days later, they brought me their empty cartons."
Morningstar also used the neighborhood app to help keep her neighbors informed when supplies were available. "I have kept people posted along with other neighbors about who has what supplies. For example, I had seen pictures and comments on social media that there were long lines outside Sam's for a couple days. When I was able to go, I updated them on the time and day that I was there and there were no lines to enter the store. Also, the rules for meat, whether there were eggs, what meat they had, toilet paper, or whatever other items people were looking for. I appreciated others doing it because it was nice to know that if I went early on a Friday, there was a chance I might find whatever I was looking for instead of having to go to multiple locations and still not find it."
Public Affairs Administrative Officer Casey Garcia wanted to help but is not very proficient in sewing, so she enlisted two friends and provided material to sew protective face masks for their friend who works at Yuma Regional Medical Center. Now Garcia’s friend has personalized Disney and Star Wars masks to help protect her from germs. Garcia also got a lesson in sewing, so now she is practicing to make more masks for the community on her own.
Taking a completely different approach to helping students is Program Manager Iris Espinoza. She provided her help virtually. "I kept seeing online that parents were struggling to help their students the first week after schools were closed. They wanted to provide learning experiences but didn't know where to start. I volunteered to do an online science lesson to teach about hydrogen bonds and surface tension as well as a math lesson on probability. I intended to help a few parents but that spread a little faster than I anticipated. We use the free Zoom feature to connect via video. Most of the students don't know each other but after the first few minutes we are fully engaged."
As a mother of two school aged kids and the organizer of YPG's STEM Outreach and GEMS Programs, Espinoza knows the importance of keeping kids' mind's simulated even while they are quarantined.
"I know parents are struggling with finding engaging activities for their students and that students want to connect with others outside of their home. Providing these lessons felt like a quick win for both the parents and students."
YPG’s employees have also been supporting local businesses by shopping locally and ordering food from their favorite restaurants to ensure that when all this is over those locally owned restaurants are still around.
| Date Taken: | 04.09.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.13.2020 19:45 |
| Story ID: | 367049 |
| Location: | YUMA PROVING GROUND, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 38 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Yuma Proving Ground employees lend a hand to ease burden of COVID crisis, by Ana Henderson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
