Preparedness expert: We need to rely on each other

Although the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order earlier this year was an uncomfortable mandate for many, one Bellingham neighborhood turned it into a friendly competition. In early March, many households in Washington made “one last trip” to the grocery stores to stock up on food and supplies before the COVID-19 pandemic bowling-balled its way through society. In the following weeks, folks found themselves making a trip to the store for simply one or two items. A group of five households in the Bellingham area noticed this trend and talked about it during a virtual bingo night they had created to stay in touch during the pandemic. As a group, the neighbors decided they wanted to limit these unnecessary trips to the store, so they created a competition – which household could go the longest without stepping foot into a store?

Competition Rules:

No member of the household can step foot into a store
If anyone does step foot into a store, they are out of the competition
If a household falls out of the competition, the whole family must dance in the street to show the neighbors that they lost
Takeout and delivery services from stores are acceptable

We acknowledge that Whatcom County is located on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples. They cared for the lands that included what we’d call the Puget Sound region, Vancouver Island and British Columbia since time immemorial. This gives us the great obligation and opportunity to learn how to care for our surrounding areas and all the natural and human resources we require to live. We express our deepest respect and gratitude for our indigenous neighbors, the Lummi Nation and Nooksack Tribe, for their enduring care and protection of our shared lands and waterways.