by Gretchen Sporleder-Orr and Brian Orr
SOUTHERN CO/NORTHERN NM- Uncertain times are certainly here.
And in a time when news events change daily, and even hourly, being a weekly newspaper can be — ahem— challenging.
But, technology is making it possible for us to bring you news as fast as we find it out.
On our website- www.worldjournalnewspaper.com we have added a special link entitled SPECIAL COVERAGE, which will send you to a new page completely devoted to COVID-19 news, updates, cancellations and closures. All stories we post on the website for the next several weeks, including those about COVID-19, are free; there is no paywall to get to them.
What we need from our readers is specific information to put on that web page. If you have a business or work with an institution that is being affected by COVID-19 (if you have to cancel or delay an events, or your hours are changing) please email this information to us at events.worldjournal@gmail.com, so we can share it with all our readers.
If your business is having to shift how it reaches customers (say, you’re a restaurant, and you need to tell people that they can order food for pick up, as opposed to sit-down dining,) give us a call at the WJ and ask to speak to Debi or Mary Jo about how we can help you. An example of what we can do for you is a hotlink off our E-Edition of the newspaper, where if a reader ‘mouses’ over your ad, a direct link to your website appears, which can take them directly to your webpage.
And lastly, it does look like this is going to be the ‘New Normal’ for weeks, if not months.
As such, schools throughout Colorado and New Mexico have closed, many until further notice.
We don’t need to tell you that Huerfano, Las Animas and Colfax counties are on the poorer end of the scale, and many kids rely on school lunches as a vital part of their day.
Hunger is now a real possibility in our communities. Most school districts cannot afford to feed kids who are not in class.
This is one of those cases where throwing money at the problem does help, and we urge people to donate to their local schools, and encourage local school boards to figure out a way to reach out and get food to the kids.
A great example of this is the La Veta RE-2 school district, where an anonymous donor has funded school lunches for the forseeable future. Food boxes will be available for drive-through pick up from 3-5 p.m. today, and then weekly beginning April 1. This is a great example of a community helping itself.
Another great example is Walsenburg’s Sangre de Cristo Center for Youth, which has stepped up to the plate this week and through spring break next week to make meals for kids (donations gratefuly accepted at 513 Main Street), and the RE-1 district will step in with food for the kiddos after spring break. And lastly, we’ll just repeat what you all know; sneeze into your elbow, wash your hands, and don’t panic.
