Thinking out of the box: Service club finds new ways to help community during pandemic
The Twin City Area Optimist Club found the sunny side of the shutdown that canceled the organization’s meetings and projects.
“Not only did we survive, I think we thrived ourselves right into the future,” outgoing club president Phyllis Neff said. “Our confidence is up. Just because we can’t do it the same way, doesn’t mean we can’t find a new way.”
Since 1988, the club has been meeting weekly and organizing activities that support youths, but in March, the COVID-19-prompted shutdown put the brakes to meetings and events.
“We took a couple of weeks off. We figured this was not going to last forever,” Neff said.
By April, members decided it was time to find other ways to reach out, and embraced technology.
“We started with a Zoom happy hour,” Neff said. “Then we held weekly meetings via Zoom.”
In May, the club planned its first pandemic service project, a drive-through food drive. Club members learned to use Facebook Live, invited the community to join and collected more than 1,800 pounds, exceeding its goal of 1,000 pounds. They followed up with three similar drives.
The Optimists partnered with Leader Publications to sponsor the Leader Art and Science Challenge, which recently received honors from Optimist International.
The club’s annual Respect for Law banquet, which honors local police officers, couldn’t safely be held. Instead, a masked contingent of members traveled to each agency to deliver plaques and honor officers. See photos of this year’s honorees on Page 33.
“We are thinking outside the box,” Neff said. “We are all looking for ways to serve the youth in our community.”
“We are a club that does things,” she said. “The camaraderie we have for each other feeds our passion for helping. We’re a strong club.
“A pandemic isn’t going to keep us down.”