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This week I would like to highlight our first Community Spotlight within District 114, Sean Hartshorn.
I am guessing that many of you will instantly recognize this person and the way he helped spread hope and a feeling of togetherness throughout our community.
Sean is a member of the Orange community who began an initiative creating red, wooden hearts to honor our frontline workers.
"My journey began with a trip to my local grocery store in March of 2020. I saw a woman in scrubs shopping and thought to thank her for her service, much like I would to any serving or former military personnel. Well I didn’t have the guts to do it inside the store, but as fate would have it there she was in the parking lot loading her groceries into the car not far from me. I then decided to muster the courage to drive over and tell her what a great job she is doing. I still to this day have no idea who she was, what her name was, and if she was even a nurse! For all I know she was a veterinarian! Yet the act made her day. On my drive home I couldn’t help but to think about the smile on her face and what my simple words did for her. In that moment, the ideas sparked in my own head about what I can do for any person needing a simple thank you on the front lines.
I began to do a Facebook live every night where I would cheer and make noise at a certain time to honor all those on the front lines. I spewed positive within my community and never expected the response I would receive. As it progressed I came up the idea to produce wooden hearts for my neighborhood, hoping that some first responders might drive down my street and see all the hearts in recognition of them, but it didn’t stop there. In the course of the next 4 months I made over 400 hearts and gave them to anyone who wanted one. When people asked how much, I responded with, I’m a frontline worker myself and am still making a paycheck every week, other people at the time weren’t as fortunate and I didn’t want to take what money they may have needed.
I still display my own heart in my yard, as do most of my neighbors in my community! Thank everyone who inspired me and pushed me to be a greater person."
Thank you, Sean, for helping us honor our frontline workers!
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