3 Simple Steps you can take to Help your Community - COVID-19

As you may already know, Swanky Badger, above all else, is about sharing love and appreciation. Our products are simply vehicles to show how much we care about those who mean the most to us.

In these troubling times, we encourage you to take these principles, and apply them in your local communities. This is a time to show how loving, caring, and appreciative we can be for what we have, and for those in our families and communities.

Below are three simple steps you can take to make a difference in your community as we all hunker down to ride out this storm.

1 - Offer help and support to the elderly

A lot of us have elderly neighbors and family members, for whom this is potentially a very dangerous situation. The importance of them self-isolating cannot be overstated. But this in itself only heightens the problems many elderly people already face; loneliness and isolation. For most of us, there are simple steps we can take to help.

• Check in on your elderly neighbors. Even if you don’t know them very well. Knock on their door, take two steps backwards, and ask them if they need any help.
• Get their phone number. Send them a text or give them a call every day or two. Let them know they’re being thought of.
• Offer your service. If you’re going to the store, ask them if there’s anything they need. These are little gestures that can go a long long way.

2 - Share

By now we’ve probably all seen the pictures circulating of hoarders with shopping carts full of items they have no intention of using.

It’s important to look after your loved ones, and to ensure you have vital supplies, but a huge step you can take in your community is to also take stock of what you don’t need, and to offer it up to others.

If you have an oversupply of anything at all, from cleaning supplies, to toilet paper, canned foods or books, let your community know. Share. This can be done using a community app like Nextdoor, by texting or calling your neighbors, or by simply leaving items outside of your front door, with a note to passersby.

Ultimately, the more we look out for each other, the more lives will be saved in the long-run.

3 - Exercise Compassion & Patience

For almost all of us, life is getting turned completely on its head. Kids are out of school, workplaces are shut, events have been cancelled, and the future is entirely unclear. It’s a scary time, and it’s hard to keep the negative thoughts at bay.

However, with all of this in play, there has never been a better opportunity for us to better ourselves, and to show others the great humans we all can be.

If we all spend even just a few moments each day looking at the situation from the perspective of those surrounding us, asking ourselves how we can be more patient, more loving, and more understanding, I think we can all learn and grow from this situation.

Yes, your kids will challenge you, but it’s not their fault. They’re not used to being this restricted, for this length of time. Your family may make decisions you don’t agree with, but you can’t control that. State your case, educate them as best you can, implore them to follow protocols, and let them know it’s all coming from a place of love.

We will get through this. And the best way we can do it is by looking out for each other. From a safe distance :)

Stay safe everyone.

Much love.

Mark Hanratty

- Founder