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A Saint John company wants to celebrate the city’s “essential heroes” by giving them a token of thanks— and they want the community’s help to do it.
Key Industries is giving away 1,000 t-shirts to local heroes as a way of saying thanks for stepping up during the COVID-19 crisis.
President and CEO Christine Evans says the idea for the initiative came from a conversation among staff.
“We were sitting around talking about the people in the community who have to work and be essential workers, and the demands and the commitment that they’re making every single day. We thought it would be nice to do something,” says Evans.
“One of the staff had an idea of giving them something. Let’s give them something they can wear, something that will recognize them.”
One of the company’s graphic designers came up with the ‘Essential Heroes’ design, which is a play of the classic Superman chest logo. “Essential Heroes” is also a play on Promo Heroes, Key Industry’s promotional products company and social enterprise.
The public will be able to nominate individuals, organizations, or businesses over at the Key Industries and Promo Heroes Facebook pages. The nominees with the most votes in the comments section will be considered. Nominations close May 22.
"Essential Hero" T-Shirt Giveaway
Hey, Saint John! We want your help recognizing Essential Workers in our community. We are giving away 1000 "Essential Hero" T-Shirts to thank workers who went above and beyond for our city during this unprecedented situation of Covid-19. Get involved by nominating groups or businesses in the comments below. We will recognize the winners with a box of these awesome T-shirts. Let us hear your stories below!(Nominations close May 22nd.)
Posted by Key Industries on Wednesday, May 6, 2020
“You can do a little story about why you feel that your group or whoever you’re nominating is deserving, or something that a company did to go above and beyond during COVID-19,” says Evans.
Though there is much deserved support going towards frontline workers, Evans says it’s also important to recognize other people and groups that are helping people get through these tough times.
“It’s important for all of us to recognize the commitment that people are making every single day. There’s a lot of people who we normally don’t think of as being essential. We usually think of healthcare and fire and police, who are definitely really valued in our community,” she says. “But I think we really need to look beyond that to the individuals who are keeping our communities running and keeping people safe.”
A version of this story was published in Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
