They have started a blue ribbon campaign called Alaskans Stand Together – Six Feet Apart, with ribbons that are exactly six-feet in length. Not only is it a showing of warmth to tie a ribbon around a tree in your yard, but handling it can show you exactly how far apart you should be from other people.
Shari Conner of Caring 4 The Kenai: “We started thinking about people in our community, how the COVID-19 virus is going to affect not only individuals but also businesses and I started thinking about what other time in my life had there been times for something that affected our whole country or humanity as a whole. I thought about Operation Desert Storm, and at that time, we tied yellow ribbons around everything to be in support of our country and each other. So, we started doing some research and blue ribbons stand for hope, strength, and surviving. We thought that was fitting.”
She also said that the term “social distancing” is a bit too clinical, opting for a term that is strength-based, but that standing six-feet apart is still highly recommended: “We came up with the blue ribbon and it’s six-feet long so people can actually visualize what six-feet looks like to give other people that ‘Courtesy Spacing,’ instead of social distancing. It’s a strength-based term. We want Alaskans to stand together, six-feet apart, because connection is super important and we don’t want people to isolate and distance from each other, but we do want people to be safe and we want them to understand what six-feet looks like. We want everyone to stand together and support each other. We’re hoping that the blue ribbons will show that.”
Blue ribbons are being handed out at Pita Pit, Kenai River Brewing, The Duck Inn Cafe, with the list growing. Additionally, they can be picked up at the Serenity House Treatment Center’s intake office.
Ms. Conner also says you can make your own, whatever it takes to spread the message: “Even if you have your own blue ribbon… Ours are just survey tape, so they’re super easy. You can tie it around stuff at home, you can cut it, we just wanted that six-feet of ribbon so somebody can visually see this what six-feet looks like. We’d like to see a bunch of blue ribbon all over our community.”
For more information, visit Change 4 The Kenai’s Facebook page.
