Portland mayor leads cheers for frontline workers nightly
Portland officials and Mayor Ted Wheeler are encouraging people to thank health care workers amid the coronavirus pandemic by cheering every night from their homes at 7 p.m.
The citywide recognition in Portland began Friday and follows a global trend where people go out onto their balconies, open their windows or stand at their open front doors and make noise to honor and boost the morale of frontline workers such as doctors, nurses and other first responders. Rituals in other areas have occurred at 8 p.m. and been dubbed "Solidarity at 8".
Portland officials also suggest banging on pots and pans as an alternative to cheering. The hashtag for this movement is "#PDXthanksyou."
"History will look back at this moment and see a community rise together and support each other in ways that seemed unimaginable even just a few weeks ago," says Mayor Wheeler.
He continued: "Our nurses, doctors, and first responders continue to risk their health and well-being every single day to make sure the sickest among us get the care they need. Other community heroes like grocery store employees, delivery drivers, chefs, and others make sure we have food on the table. Let's boost the morale for all those who are struggling as well - a nightly reminder that no one is alone."
Portland,
— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) March 26, 2020
Set your alarms! Let’s cheer for our frontline heroes starting FRI at 7 pm & every night until #COVID19's deadly impact is history:
Nurses
DRs
1st Responders
Grocery store workers
Chefs
Delivery drivers
Open a window or step outside your home to say:#PDXThanksYou pic.twitter.com/S14KgiKKZu
Users on Twitter have already begun documenting the trend.
Empty streets. Full hearts. #PDXThanksYou every night at 7 pm. Thanks @tedwheeler https://t.co/Yjs8BgMxPB
— DianeDulken 🚲🞠🇺🇸 (@DianeDulken) March 29, 2020
Nice!!! #PDXThanksYou https://t.co/18M4Ba4NW5
— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) March 28, 2020
Applause and joyful noise for health care workers on the frontlines of #Covid19. #pdxthanksyou #coronavirus #fox12Oregon Making #thebestofabadsituation Thanks also to grocery workers and truckers and cleaners and all those working to keep us safe and healthy!! pic.twitter.com/vOkeISkoMr
— Marilyn Deutsch (@marilyndeutsch) March 28, 2020
The sounds from SW Portland last night as we all cheered on our frontline workers. Thank you for all that you have done and are continuing to do for our community. Hope to hear everyone again tonight at 7pm! #PDXthanksyou #StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/5YvyzPr9Pd
— Senator Ginny Burdick (@SenBurdick) March 28, 2020
PMG Staff contributed to this article, which was provided to Pamplin Media Group by The Oregonian/OregonLive as part of a new collaborative project covering the coronavirus.
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